The Republic of Ireland camp expects Denise O’Sullivan to train fully on Wednesday, 24 hours ahead of the World Cup opener against the host nation at Stadium Australia (kick-off 11am Irish time).
O’Sullivan has completed two light sessions since Sunday and the FAI report that “everything is going according to plan with her return to play procedure”.
The 29-year-old Irish midfielder was brought to hospital near Brisbane last Friday night with a shin injury after a foul by Colombia’s Lorena Bedoya 20 minutes into a warm-up game at Meakin Park.
“The tackle was over the ball, the ball was away and it was on the ankle,” said Ireland manager Vera Pauw. “Even a hand lower, she would have been out of the World Cup, for sure. And it was deliberate.”
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The FAI abandoned the match three minutes later as this was the second foul on an Irish player, the first being a bruising challenge on Ruesha Littlejohn.
Pauw said she withdrew her players from a much-needed run out on Friday because she saw “fear in their eyes”.
Littlejohn, who is expected to start in midfield against Australia, adopts a different perspective.
“I don’t think I would say I was afraid. I would definitely say there was a concern.”
There will be bite in the Aussie tackles too?
“I think we all know we can handle ourselves. We are a physical enough team. But we’re not a dirty team. We’ll compete against Australia like they’ll compete against us.”
However, the Sydney Morning Herald are predicting a “rough and ready” encounter with the Irish on the back page of their Tuesday edition.
“What happened the other night obviously impacts the Irish team but it doesn’t necessarily impact our preparation,” said Matildas defender Clare Hunt. “It’s terrible that a game had to be abandoned for those reasons but, in terms of the Irish physicality, they’ve always had it and they always will.
“We know that is a strength of theirs and we are just working to nullify that in any way we can. We’re obviously also a very transitional and physical team, so I think it will be a good battle.”
With Thursday’s game returning to the scene of the 2000 Olympic Games, the Australian camp had a surprise visit from Cathy Freeman, the track star who won the 400 metre gold medal on an electric night 23 years ago.
The visit started with the Matildas sitting in a darkened room and Freeman’s iconic race being re-run on a big screen.
“By the end of it there was a lot of emotion going around in the room,” said midfielder Aivi Luik. “And when they turned the lights on, we turned around and there she was. It was a huge surprise to us. A lot of girls were very emotional.
“We had a chat to her and talked about how she dealt with pressures because, obviously, she had the weight of the nation on her shoulders. And she was just one – we’re a whole team, so we’re quite lucky in that regard.
“We just sat around. We asked her questions informally, and she spoke back to us just like she was a friend.”
The FAI have no plans to welcome Sonia O’Sullivan into camp. A resident of Melbourne, O’Sullivan won silver in the 5,000 metres at the Sydney Games.
The Matildas have also taken a collective stand against Fifa, demanding equal pay at the men’s and women’s World Cups while questioning why all 32 nations competing this month do not have collective bargaining agreements.
Ireland and Australia both previously secured a collective bargaining agreement with their governing bodies.
Although Fifa have yet to confirm the presence of Gianni Infantino at the tournament’s opening press conference in Auckland on Wednesday morning (1.30am Irish time), the global governing body’s president is expected to speak.
However, unlike his pre-tournament performance in Qatar last year, when Infantino claimed to feel “gay, Arab, disabled” and like “a woman,” it will not be broadcast live on the Fifa Hub.
