It was also the strangest; after plodding up to try and get her head on a free-kick, her attempt to block Salma Amani's clearance inexplicably rebounded into the goal from a short distance away.

All of them important, but this one seemed to matter the most out of all of them.

          The tiny group of Irish staff members gave the Marbella Football Centre's most recent athletic sensations an extended and well-deserved standing ovation.

She scored Ireland's third goal of a display that resulted in a notable victory but was occasionally unpredictable in the 75th minute, and Kyra Carusa added a fourth on her 27th birthday.

The goals from Megan Campbell and Katie McCabe in the first half were best summed up by those two late goals.

             Ireland therefore completed the task as well as they had begun it, but the break in the action may have worried manager Vera Pauw, who was using this match as a clue of what a far bigger challenge another African side, Nigeria, might present at the World Cup next summer.

Campbell's trademark missile from touch gave Ireland a head start in the second minute, unintentionally positioning her up for the opening goal.

The Drogheda woman curled a beautiful attempt around Assia Zouhair from the left side of the penalty area after the Moroccans were unable to stop her missile from the left hand touchline. Denise O'Sullivan then gave the ball back to her.

As a result of a brilliant connection by the golden midfield trio of Aine O'Gorman, O'Sullivan, and McCabe in the 14th minute, Ireland, buoyed by the early boost, continued to dominate and add a second goal.

Nkia Mazrouai attacked the Arsenal star on the edge of the area after McCabe's superb escape.

               The conversion, a shabby and weak attempt that was sneaked beneath the diving Assia, was nearly celebrated with remorseful glee by her.

As Ireland made just one change from their illustrious Glasgow victory last month, Louise Quinn was given the captaincy on her 100th outing. Heather Payne was replaced by Barrett, whose popular goal bagged World Cup certification.

Ireland had a rare dominance of both possession and territory with full-backs Jess Finn and Megan Campbell played upfront, somewhat surprisingly against a team rated more than 50 places lower than them.

O'Gorman made a raid down the right, and McCabe nearly met the inch-perfect cross with his head, but he was given a yellow card for tripping the goalkeeper.

             The Irish's carelessness allowed the initially erratic and unflappable Moroccans to progressively become more adept at the game.

Anissa Belksami and Salma Amani, two dangerous forwards, cooperated, and although the latter rocketed over, the chance's creation was troubling. Before being stripped of possession, McCabe had been accused of overplaying; as a result, the defense could not regroup, thanks in part to a poor decision by Diane Caldwell and subpar work from Quinn to block the shot.

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By this point, McCabe and Gorman had swapped flanks, but it didn't seem to help the side's dwindling impact.

Once more, their lack of decision-making precision and anxiousness with the ball prevent them from developing into a team that can be at ease in possession for extended periods of time.

              Salma next missed the target before Lily Agg's motivating presence in the middle of the field helped Ireland momentarily come back to life.

Assia tucked her shot around the post after her spinning, dribbling run through a tangle of red shirts delivered a shot that was accurate but not aggressive.

Agg nearly made up for Assia's weak punch from the ensuing corner, but her shot sailed wide of the relieved goalkeeper's net.

The 2-2 draw in Friday's unofficial match, in which Ireland's shadow team played a bigger role, seemed to be a spirited effort.

There were still some unresolved issues on the global stage.

Following a late challenge from Sofia Bouftini that poleaxed Jamie Finn, Anissa accidentally elbowed Quinn in the chin.

As usual, McCabe was a target as well and got into a physical altercation with Sana Daoudi.

Although the Irishwoman received the free, some officials might have thought that her effort at a flick—during the men's World Cup week, with hints of Beckham and Simeone in 1998—was deserving of a little more consideration.

As a result of leaving her studs on the Moroccan captain Elodie Nahla Nakkach, she would later be written into Jason Barcelo's trash time book.

               Notwithstanding the Moroccan's growing dominance, Courtney Brosnan remained untested until she intercepted a long-range shot from Sofia and immediately passed the ball to Sabbah Seghir, who put Courtney's skills to the test once more.

Ireland was turning into a swarm.

Even though McCabe's wonderful free-kick was pushed over by the occupied Assia and Barrett's close-range attempt, where she should have performed better, there was no improvement after the break.

In attempt to break the slump, Pauw made a number of substitutions at the hour mark, including birthday girl Carusa, whose second international goal sealed a victory that was pleasant, even if not spectacular.

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