Australia's Steph Catley faced questions about gamesmanship in her side's 2-0 World Cup last-16 victory over Denmark on Monday.
Denmark had dominated the opening 15 minutes. Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson admitted afterward that his team "struggled" early on saying that "Denmark came out and surprised us with 4-4-2 high press". However, some "tactical adjustments" helped Australia find a foothold in the game.
Those adjustments were made during a 17th minute break in play when on-field captain Catley went down injured following an attack by Denmark.
"It’s a great coincidence,” Catley, who also denied faking the injury, replied when put to her that it was a fortunate moment for her to go down.
"Sometimes it’s a good reset when there’s a break in play, and the girls got over and talked to Tony. But I’m all good, healthy and ready for the next game."
Australia took the lead in the 29th minute through Caitlin Foord and doubled their advantage in the 70th minute with a goal by Hayley Raso.
Australia go ahead against Denmark as Caitlin Foord bares down on goal and finishes superbly
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In his post-match press conference, Gustavsson admitted that first half break in play did help his side.
"Football is one of the team sports that’s very difficult to get tactical adjustment during the game because there’s no time outs!" he said.
"It’s far away for the players to hear when there’s 75,000 in the stands!
"We've done a lot of scenario training. We're trained a lot in communication - different signs, different words.
"It wasn’t just me talking in that huddle. The players as much as I did to get on the same page. In a moment like that when you can hardly hear each other on the park, it’s very important that the players see the same picture.
"Just to get 30 seconds or 20 seconds just to get some keywords, key messages out, then get everyone on the same page can help tremendously.
"Tonight, that break helped us a lot."
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