Australia 1-0 Republic of Ireland
SYDNEY, AUS–Just before kickoff, it was revealed that Australian forward Sam Kerr would miss the first two matches of the tournament with a calf injury picked up in training. For this night, it did not matter too much as a Stephanie Catley penalty turned out to be enough to defeat Republic of Ireland, 1-0, before 75,784 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The Matildas were frustrated for the most part against Ireland’s defense that kept them off the score sheet in the first half and looked set to do the same in the second. However, that strategy by the Irish got upended in the 52nd minute after Marissa Sheva took down Hayley Raso in the box. Cately converted the spot kick and relieved a lot of the pressure on the Aussies that night.
It was mostly Australia after that, though they were unable to find a second while Ireland barely had chances to get a first with just one shot on target (though Australia had just two themselves).
Australia’s manager Tony Gustavsson praised his team’s mental toughness dealing with the loss of Kerr before the match.
“We knew this game would be tough,” said Gustavsson. “All the teams here will put up a fight. Everyone can beat everyone in this tournament. We knew set pieces would be a massive part of it and I have to credit the team for how they handled all those set plays in the final stages. They are one of the best teams in attack on set plays and we dealt with it.
“Tournament football is always about finding a way to win. There’s been a lot challenges thrown at this team over the last 24 hours, an opening game at a home World Cup and then you add Sam Kerr’s injury to that. They stuck together and played as a team and that mental toughness I am proud of.
“The fans carried this team to the victory. That support was amazing. In the stands they were amazing.”
Australia next play Nigeria, without Kerr, on Thursday in Brisbane (5am CT, FS1/NBC Universo), while Ireland will take on Canada in their next match on Wednesday in Perth (7am CT, FS1/NBC Universo).
