AUSTRALIA BOSS Tony Gustavsson praised Ireland after Vera Pauw’s side ran them close in their World Cup opener today.
The tournament co-hosts were made to work to earn a slender 1-0 victory to get their campaign off to a winning start.
“Ireland have done a phenomenal job in using their resources in a good way,” Gustavsson told reporters afterwards. “How well-organised they are and how physical they are.
“They’re good on the break, and their set plays. We could see once they went for the attack they were going for it and putting pressure on us when we gave away the ball a lot.”
The Swedish manager, who has previously worked as an assistant coach for USA, also praised his side for getting over the line in difficult circumstances.
“In terms of fitness, it was more the mental game, when that happens sometimes you get loose. But then you find a way to win.
“We spent a lot of the last two years speaking about tournament football and game management, playing what the game needs at that moment.
“Yeah, this wasn’t the greatest game of football, not the attacking game we want from the Matildas, flying in attack.
“But this was a team that knows how to win games, that finds a way to win games, do what’s needed in that moment and that is what impressed me most tonight.”
Australia player Steph Catley, who scored the game’s winning goal from the penalty spot, was similarly complimentary when asked about Ireland.
“Ireland are a very physical team,” she said. “What they do and how they play, they do it incredibly well. They’re physical and sometimes they try and get into your head with tackles and that sort of physicality.
“They’re incredible on set-pieces and they create a lot from set-pieces. So what they do, they do very well.
“And from this being their first World Cup, they played great and came out really confident in terms of what they needed to do. And that gives us more credit for stopping that, stifling their chances and getting the job done.”
Australia were rocked by news before kick-off that key player Sam Kerr had been ruled out with a calf injury sustained in training yesterday.
Gustavsson paid tribute to the Chelsea forward, who has also been ruled out of their second group game against Nigeria while explaining why they chose not to reveal this news at the pre-match press conference.
“Sam is a massive part of Ireland’s game plan and we didn’t want to give that away in advance. But once we got here, we were honest with the team sheet.
“It’s devastating for her and the players but they responded well after she stepped off training in the warm-up yesterday. She said it’s not about me it is about you and the team. To be able to do that personally says a lot about her as a captain.
“We knew she couldn’t play but we didn’t know what it was. She means a lot to us emotionally and spiritually.”
