Republic of Ireland manager Vera Bowe said her players were “fearing for their bodies” during a Women’s World Cup warm-up match with Colombia, which was called off after 20 minutes after a series of intense challenges.
The Football Association of Ireland confirmed that midfielder Denis O’Sullivan was taken to hospital for treatment for a shin injury during the friendly match at Meakin Park in Brisbane, Australia, but it was found he was not fractured and could still play for Ireland in the tournament.
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“We’re not afraid of any physical contact, you know, we’re a team ourselves, and within the rules of the game, we’re a very tough team,” Bowe told Irish Radio Show of the Ball.
“players, [for] The first time since I trained them, they freaked out, scared for their bodies.”
The match was Ireland’s final preliminary match before their World Cup opener against Australia on 20 July.
The Colombian federation also issued a statement saying that the Irish team “would prefer not to continue” and added, “We follow the rules of fair play”.
“It was something I had never experienced before in my 47 years of being involved in football, not as a player and not as a coach,” said Bao. Added to Sky Sports. “It started out lively, a good, casual game, and then the atmosphere built up to be more physical.
“Then a huge challenge came on Denise, a challenge that’s not in the playbook and she was in terrible pain. I went to the Columbia coach and said, ‘I need help from you, we need to smooth this out.'” We all want to go to the World Cup.”
