High hopes Denise O'Sullivan will be fit to face Australia

The Cork woman was walking unaided around the team’s Emporium Hotel in Brisbane

BOOT OFF: Denise O'Sullivan takes a walk near the team Emporium Hotel, Brisbane, Australia on Monday

Mon, 17 Jul, 2023 - 08:00

John Fallon

Denise O’Sullivan seems certain to shake off a late injury and take her place in Thursday’s historic World Cup opener before 81,500.

The prospect of the Irish midfield operating without their 102-times capped maestro for the meeting with co-hosts Australia became real when she was hospitalised on Friday following a stamp by Colombia’s Lorena Bedoya.

That peaked a feisty opening 20 minutes, prompting Ireland boss Vera Pauw to request a premature end to the behind-closed-doors training match.

X-rays thankfully showed no fracture of O’Sullivan’s leg, yet the sight of her donning a protective boot and handling a crutch for support on Saturday placed her availability in jeopardy.

Pauw’s reliance on the first 48 hours to determine her recovery proved prescient, for on Monday the Cork woman was walking unaided around the team’s Emporium Hotel in Brisbane’s South Bank just as the Dutch native was providing an update to media.

Barring a setback at training, the first session of which is underway this Monday morning, the 29-year-old will slot into her customary midfield role for Ireland’s first-ever major tournament fixture.

“The boot was only on to calm things down, not because she couldn’t walk,” said Pauw.

“She will see her stability and if she can run. There are really good hopes and Denise herself says there are really good hopes.”

Pauw remained livid with the circumstances of the injury three days on. Colombia’s veteran defender Daniela Caracas mocked the Irish reaction by branding them ‘girls’ for a ‘little foul’ and the reaction in South America to the footage of the incident that appeared on social media prompted accusations of flakiness. The FAI had no intention of showing the 20 minutes of the aborted workout.

“The ball was away and the tackle on the ankle was deliberate,” fumed the Irish boss.

“If it was one foot lower, Denise would surely have been out of the World Cup.

“We know that it was the total atmosphere from before the game and then there were lots of incidents.

“At this moment, the reaction does not bother me because I have switched off my social media and haven’t looked. For obvious reasons, I need to be here for the team because we have Australia on Thursday.”

Ireland have Olympic champions Canada to come in Perth on July 26 before concluding their Group B against Nigeria five days later back in Brisbane.