Ireland captain Katie McCabe declares herself fit after injury scare

McCabe was substituted 30 minutes into Ireland's 3-0 defeat to France on Thursday night.

Fri, 07 Jul, 2023 - 15:19

John Fallon

Katie McCabe has allayed fears over the ankle injury which forced her off in Ireland’s final official World Cup warm-up match against France on Thursday.

The Girls in Green open their first-ever major tournament on Thursday, July 20 by facing co-hosts Australia in Sydney before meeting Canada on July 26 in Perth and Nigeria five days later in Brisbane. Two of the four nations from the group progress to the last-16.

McCabe was substituted 30 minutes into the 3-0 defeat at Tallaght, with manager Vera Pauw cautiously optimistic about her Ireland skipper’s ability to recover well in time for the opener before a sold-out 81,500-capactiy Olympic Stadium.

The player, speaking at Dublin airport before the first tranche of players flew by FIFA-funded business class to their pre-tournament camp in Brisbane, confirmed she’ll be back in action soon.

Katie McCabe as the Republic of Ireland team depart from Dublin Airport.

Ireland’s last workout is a behind-closed-doors friendly against fellow finalists Colombia in Brisbane this day next week.

“The ankle is good,” the Arsenal player told Virgin Media. “Had a scan this morning and it just needs a few days. Hopefully I’ll be back on the pitch next week.

"It’s still feeling quite tender But I’m happy with where it’s at, I should be back training early next week.

"I didn’t fear the worst, I knew it wasn’t right, I couldn’t change direction, speaking to the medical team, it was important not to take unnecessary risks."

On the defeat to France, ranked fifth in the world, McCabe felt it was the test required to prepare for what Sam Kerr and the Matildas will provide on their home patch.

“We always knew it would be a difficult game. I thought we started the game well. Those first 35 minutes were really good from our point of view.

“France have quality all over the pitch and they punished some of the errors we made as a team. Lots of learnings from it. There were really good points and areas we can work on over the next two weeks."

'Proud' Pauw plays down McCabe injury fears