The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) announced: "The friendly match between the Irish women's team and Colombia in preparation for the 2023 Women's World Cup has been abandoned after just 20 minutes of play, due to the rough and aggressive nature of the opponent's match, which resulted in one of our players being seriously injured and hospitalized. This is regrettable and should not have happened before a major tournament."
Ireland women's team (left)
On July 14, there were many training matches taking place in Australia and New Zealand, of teams that are preparing for the opening match of the 2023 Women's World Cup. Among them, the Vietnamese women's team lost 0-9 to the Spanish women's team. This was a closed match, not open to the media and fans, but the match ceremonies were organized as an official match and were very similar to those taking place at the World Cup.
However, the incident happened during the match between Ireland and Colombia at Meakin Park in Brisbane. Ireland coach Vera Pauw decided to withdraw her players from the field, after witnessing the Colombian players playing too aggressively and injuring female player Denise O'Sullivan who was later hospitalized.
"The match, held at Meakin Park, Brisbane, became too intense and was ended early after consultation with the referees and match officials. The Irish women's team then underwent a full training session to continue their preparations for their opening match of the 2023 Women's World Cup against Australia in Sydney on 20 July," the FAI statement added.
Colombia women's team with star player Linda Caicedo (left)
According to AS , Ireland women's national team player Denise O'Sullivan suffered a serious injury to her shin and was hospitalized. She is now likely to say goodbye to the 2023 Women's World Cup soon.
At the 2023 Women's World Cup, Ireland are in Group B with co-hosts Australia, Nigeria and Canada. Colombia, with star player Linda Caicedo, are in Group H with Germany, Morocco and South Korea.
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