"I am so proud - when I was in the huddle I said that, and with a bad word as well," Pauw told the Independent.ie.

"It is amazing, second in the world and we could have won - we executed the gameplan phenomenally."

She added: "The thing is you can only do this if you are fresh when you start the game and we are always working on this and then the execution makes the game and the players do that."

Pauw admitted that the visitors "had a lot of luck to stay in the game" as the Group A leaders piled on the pressure and eventually levelled 11 minutes from time.

Katie McCabe fires home to give the Republic a first-half lead

"It was a constant storm, relentless, and we shifted well but we couldn't get forward at the end and that made it difficult to keep the ball out," she said.

Sweden secured their place in the finals with a point while the second-placed Republic remain on course for a play-off spot.

Republic skipper McCabe netted the opener just before the break with a deflected strike and the Arsenal winger hopes the result will spur the team on for the rest of the campaign.

"I'm just happy when they go in," she said.

"We still have three games to go so we will take it step by step. We're fully focused on the job in hand but hopefully we can get there."