'That is not something you want to see' - Carusa laments Matildas penalty decision

CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN: Ireland's Kyra Carusa tells teammate Marissa Sheva not to let penalty define tournament. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Ireland striker Kyra Carusa said players going down in the penalty area is not something you want to see after Australia spoiled their World Cup debut.

Steph Catley’s spot kick seven minutes after the restart settled this Group B opener played in front of a record domestic crowd of 75,784 at the Sydney Olympic Stadium.

Marissa Sheva was deemed the culprit from a tussle with Hayley Raso, an infringement she hotly contested. But once the Arsenal mainstay ripped the top corner of the net, the guilt descended and she was substituted in tears. Carusa, leading the attack ahead of Sheva, had sympathy for her fellow American.

“One thing was the difference-maker today,” summarised the London Lionesses forward.

“You want to control what you can control and then it is just tough to see. A long cross is put in the box and someone goes down and it gets called a penalty. That is not something you want to see.

“I told Marissa there were plenty of minutes, plenty of matches to be played in this World Cup. Plenty.

“Don’t let that define anything. Keep your head up, don’t let them see you cry, don’t let them.” 

The Aussies, even without star striker Sam Kerr with a calf injury only divulged when the teams were announced, had to endure a couple of scary moments as their profligacy offered hope to Ireland.

Set-pieces, unsurprisingly, posed the biggest danger – Megan Connolly a yard off replicating her 20-yard free in Finland which got the successful qualifiers up and running.

Kate McCabe’s corner had to be punched away from under her crossbar by Mackensie Arnold, while Louise Quinn was a yard away from send her header into the corner.

“Katie’s energy is contagious and when that girl presses up the field like she does, everyone is behind her,” explained Carusa. 

“When Katie steps up on her side of the field, we all go. We talk about it all the time, when we go, we go as a team, that we always stick together in that and Katie leads us in that.

“I think our second-half performance showed that even more and there are so many positives to take from a game like this, against the host nation Australia and to literally for the game to end like that. We would all want to go out and play that game again, that is certainly what I feel like.” 

Looking ahead to Canada in Perth on Wednesday, she said: “We are all going to be watching each other very carefully and how we are playing against the other opponents and what performances we are bringing out but I am excited to look at our next game against Canada.” 

Ireland complete Group B on Monday, July 31 against Nigeria in Brisbane, with two of the four nations progressing to the last-16.