{"id":317523,"date":"2023-07-20T14:09:06","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T14:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=317523"},"modified":"2023-07-20T15:00:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T15:00:14","slug":"matildas-star-rebounds-from-uncharacteristic-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=317523","title":{"rendered":"Matildas star rebounds from 'uncharacteristic' opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Matildas<\/a> made history on Thursday night, marking the first World Cup<\/a> in Australia with a 1-0 win over Ireland.<\/p>\n

After devastating news broke right before the game that Sam Kerr would be out for the first two matches<\/a>, the Matildas had to push forward without their star player and captain.<\/p>\n

Wide World of Sports' Sebastian Kalos has run the rule over the Matildas' performance and assessed the starting side along with its substitutes.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Huge Latrell blow for blockbuster clash\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Sad twist in 'disgusting' sportsmanship saga<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Waugh and Broad question Aussie selection 'mistake'<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

MATILDAS\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

18. Mackenzie Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Neat and tidy and was decisive when called upon. Commanded her box well, especially from Irish set-pieces, and came up with a huge save in injury time to preserve Australia's lead.<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Cortnee Vine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Struggled to involve herself in the game, did get behind the Irish defence at the end of the first half to play a dangerous ball across to Caitlin Ford, but lacked her usual dynamism and was eventually substituted off for Van Egmond in the second half.<\/p>\n

Rating: 4\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

7. Steph Catley (C)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Always dangerous from set-pieces but was not involved in the attacking play out wide as much as she can be. Solid defensively, scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

9. Caitlin Foord<\/strong><\/p>\n

Created some half chances and looked to pull out wide but her final ball let her down, will be looking to improve as the tournament progresses.<\/p>\n

Rating: 5\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

14. Alana Kennedy<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Solid at the back, won everything in the air and was neat in possession alongside Clare Hunt.<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

15. Clare Hunt<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best of the back four, composed on the ball while physically commanding against a willing Irish team, especially in the second half when Ireland was pressing.<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

16. Hayley Raso<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Raso<\/p>\n

Sloppy in possession with some uncharacteristic turnovers in midfield, did have the best chance in the first half when she headed wide from a Steph Catley corner and won the penalty for Australia's goal in the second half.<\/p>\n

Rating: 4.5\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

19. Katrina Gorry<\/strong><\/p>\n

Was industrious in in the midfield as always but produced some cheap turnovers and struggled to support the Australian attack from deep.<\/p>\n

Rating: 5\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

21. Ellie Carpenter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looked to overlap and attack from deep, final ball though lacked when finding herself in decent areas, was solid defensively all night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Wilkinson<\/p>\n

Rating: 5.5\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

23. Kyra Cooney-Cross<\/strong><\/p>\n

Struggled to get touches and involve herself in the game, came inside to allow Raso to push out wide.<\/p>\n

Rating\ufeff: 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

11. Mary Fowler<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best player on the pitch in the first half and looked the most likely Australian player to open the Irish defence. Dropped deep to pick the ball up and create, tired in the second half and was replaced by the experienced Clare Polkinghorne.<\/p>\n

Rating: \ufeff7.5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Subs:<\/p>\n

4. Clare Polkinghorne<\/strong> (substituted 84th min, Fowler off)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rating: N\/A\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

10. Emily Van Egmond<\/strong> (substituted on 74th min, Cortnee Vine off)<\/p>\n

Came on to help Australia see out the lead and add some physical presence.<\/p>\n

Rating: 3\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Matildas made history on Thursday night, marking the first World Cup in Australia with a 1-0 win over Ireland. After devastating news broke right […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":317525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317533,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317523\/revisions\/317533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/317525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}