Katie McCabe says that the Republic of Ireland can step up to any physical challenge that is provided by Australia.
The Girls In Green will make their FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament finals debut against the co-hosts in Sydney on Thursday.
Republic of Ireland’s final warm-up match ahead of the tournament against Colombia was abandoned due to the South American side’s over-aggressive style of play. When speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Australia game, Republic of Ireland and Arsenal star McCabe said that the nation are ready for any kind of physical test in Sydney.
“For us, it is full focus on Australia,” McCabe said. “We knew Colombia would be physical but that’s going to be the case in every single game. We are Irish and we don’t shy away from physicality. It’s ingrained in us, in the team that we are.
“We will absolutely be prepared for Australia to be physical, we’ve seen that even in the game against France and they don’t want to shy away from it neither. We will be prepared to match it.”
Australia are heavy favourites to win Thursday’s Group B clash. The CommBank Matildas have progressed with every game under head coach Tony Gustavsson and they should enjoy a successful tournament. McCabe acknowledged Australia’s quality but says that the Republic of Ireland will try to deal with any danger.
She said “We know the qualities in the Australian team; they have world-class players and they’ve got the experience of playing in World Cups and major tournaments. They’ve also got exciting young talents coming through.
“We know what we have in our locker and we will be trying to keep their strengths at bay.”
The Republic of Ireland’s opening group match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 kicks-off at 11am on Thursday morning.
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