Thursday's World Cup opener brought an agonising defeat for Ireland against hosts Australia.
The Aussies are among the favourites to go all the way in this tournament and, even with star Sam Kerr out injured, they were heavily fancied against the Irish World Cup debutants. However, with a huge portion of the Sydney crowd made up of Irish fans, there was reason for optimism as the game kicked off on Thursday.
Ireland did well to frustrate Australia in the first-half, with goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan perhaps having an easier run than she might have expected. When the second-half kicked off, though, they were immediately on the back foot, as a clumsy challenge from Marissa Sheeva led to an Australian penalty, which was exquisitely dispatched by captain Steph Catley.
The goal that put Australia in front. There's no saving that!pic.twitter.com/vvtR0knbla
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 20, 2023
READ HERE: Fans Furious Over RTÉ Failings During Ireland World Cup Debut
Ultimately, Australia would hold on to their 1-0 lead, but Ireland will have been hugely encouraged by the pressure they imposed on the Matildas in the closing stages, as well as the general lack of opportunities Australia enjoyed from open play.
It was a fighting performance from Ireland that will encourage the Girls in Green that they could get a result out of their games against Canada and Nigeria. Manager Vera Pauw was full of praise for her team at full-time.
Ireland v Australia: Vera Pauw
Australia's victory over Ireland on Thursday was a far nervier affair than the World Cup hosts might have expected, and that was thanks in no small part to the intensity of the Irish play.
After showing defensive resilience in the first-half, the game was ultimately turned by a penalty for the Aussies early in the second-half - but Ireland were the team on top for the closing 20 minutes, forcing Australia to defend in numbers, as Abbie Larkin and Katie McCabe in particular forced openings in the defence.
Vera Pauw predicted the game would be decided by a mistake and so it proved, however the manager is immensely proud of her Irish team
🇦🇺 1-0 🇮🇪#coygig #wwc2023
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Speaking to RTÉ after the game, Vera Pauw said that she was immensely proud of what Tony O'Donoghue referred to as the Irish "storm", and said that her team's performance proved that they could continue to battle with those at the highest level:
It's very disappointing. We said at half-time that this was a game that could be decided on one mistake, whether it's them or us. That's what happened.
I'm very proud [of the Irish "storm"]. We brought on Abbie and Lucy [Quinn] to get more pressure forward, to have fresh legs there. They came on very, very well. We put more pressure on them, with Louise up front. You need to have a little bit of luck.
[Australia] have such a powerful team. It was difficult to play against them, but I think that we've done so well. They didn't create a lot of chances, right?
I think a draw would have been a reasonable result, but of course that doesn't count. I think everybody is proud that we have shown that we are part of the top nations, and that we can only grow from this.
Ireland will face Canada in a must-win second group stage game next Wednesday, at 1pm Irish time.
Featured image: Sportsfile/RTÉ
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