“Couldn’t Kerr less!” Say Australia in 1-0 group stage victory over resilient debutants Ireland

A perfect start for the Matildas; Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Sydney, Australia; Following the opening game at Auckland, the first matchday ended with group E participants Australia pitted against debutants Republic of Ireland, resulting in a 1-0 victory for the Australians in front of an adoring record attendance crowd of over 75,000. The absence of talismanic Aussie striker Sam Kerr has been brought up ever since she picked up a calf injury in warmup, and was subsequently ruled out for the first two group games. This however, proved no problem for the Matildas, as skipper Stephanie Catley coolly dispatched a penalty kick in the 52nd minute, much to the chagrin of the Irish supporters, witnessing defeat in their first ever World Cup outing.

Such was the excitement for this match, that FIFA decided to shift the venue from the Sydney Football Stadium to Stadium Australia to accommodate for the ticket demands. To the audience’s delight, the match delivered, with Australia’s swift attacking paired with Ireland’s much more pragmatic approach, albeit with some complaints towards the former’s performance. Catley, scorer of the match-winning goal commented how her side was “a little bit sloppy…. overzealous”, but still appeared ecstatic over the victory as she found it “hard to put into words”.

Australia went for a 4-4-2 formation, with Fowler of Manchester City-fame filling in Kerr’s spot up front, while Ireland set up in a 3-4-3, the backline being composed of 5 players for the majority of the game. The story of the first half, and pretty much the entire match, was the question of how to navigate through the rigid defensive block that Ireland had set up in their own half. Hogging up the majority of possession, the Matildas built from the back, with the double pivot of Gorry and Cooney-Cross distributing out wide to wingers dropping in at the last second. From there, beautiful ball progression and slick passing opened up lucrative spaces in the wide areas, only to be met with the great Irish wall of five. Despite lacking as a offensive threat throughout the game, the Girls in Green stood out for their frustratingly solid defence and a taste for physicality, especially from skipper Katie McCabe who was heard in the post-match interview saying how she “enjoyed” the physicality and how the Irish team “don’t shy away from that”. Like an accordion, the compact Irish defending meant that they would pounce on even a sniff of a counter, as seen in the 19th minute where McCabe found Carusa in oceans of space, only for backtracking Gorry to clear it away. 

McCabe (right) was unwilling to give an inch to the Matildas; Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

But the Matildas had their weapons as well; Fowler being a key player especially during buildup. She seemed to materialise out of thin air in tight spaces, progressing the ball forward with her magnificent technique to open up better passing options on the wings, as seen in the 23rd minute. First real action for Australia came perhaps in the 26th minute, where in a succession of corners, Raso lined up a header, albeit way off the mark. Sparks of counter-attack were seen from the Irish side at some moments, but dodgy decision-making meant that they fizzled out in crucial moments. The Girls in Green continued to frustrate the Matildas, desperate for a breakthrough, and we arrived at half-time.

The second half began with Ireland looking to get an early goal in, with a lot more green shirts in Australia’s half, which quickly backfired, as Courtnee Vine managed to squirm her way right inside the box, before getting smothered by the Irish defence. Then at the 51st minute, disaster struck—while Cooney-Cross was lining up, well, a cross into the penalty area, Sheva collided with Australia’s Raso and the referee pointed to the spot. Ireland’s dogged defensive performance seemed to amount to nothing, as leftback Catley scored from the penalty kick, and Australian joy reverberated around Sydney and beyond. Irish misery, however, almost doubled seconds later when Fowler’s run almost resulted in another goal. 

Catley (right) was untouchable from 12 yards; Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

This was the point when Ireland threw everything but the kitchen sink, desperate attempts at trying to build up an attack were snuffed out by the Matildas, as they were happy to sit deep. A series of corners put a tough test for Aussie goalkeeper Arnold, along with a break onto the wings near the 72nd minute, but in vain. The match took on a frenetic turn around the 80 minute mark, where a corner for Ireland led to a counter for the Aussies, cutting back for a shot which started an Irish counter. Fizzling out much quicker, this was an impetus for yet another Aussie counter, with frantic efforts at goal all getting blocked, and Stadium Australia barely hanging onto the roller coaster ride. As the minutes went by, Irish desperation was at its peak; a quick succession of oh-so-close corners, a sizzling free kick from Connolly just grazed over the top-left corner in the 89th minute. As if it couldn’t get any more dramatic, a Hail Mary long pass somehow found Larkin, the Irish wunderkind, who whipped a cut back to McCabe, her shot heart wrenchingly, saved, and shortly after, the full-time whistle blew.

Girls in Green desperate for an equalizer; Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Having lost all of their previous opening World Cup games except one (v Ghana in 2007), along with not having Sam Kerr in their starting XI, the victory came as a sigh of relief for the Aussies, who now look to set in motion an uninterrupted path to the knockout stages, and maybe dethrone reigning champs in the USA. For the Irish, the pain of losing a well-earned point, especially in such a tough fixture–their first ever fixture at that, could be dulled with their uncompromising defending, which often becomes the point of difference in cup formats. But as the lights dim around Sydney with the end of the first matchday, the nation sleeps, but the dreams of oh so many, rage on.