BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - Overwhelming demand for tickets meant co-host Australia’s opening match on the Women’s World Cup needed to be shifted to the match’s greatest stadium, the place it’s set to be performed in entrance of an anticipated file crowd of 82,500.

Stepping into that cauldron to face the Matildas on Thursday is Ireland, on debut on the World Cup and enjoying in its first main world match.

“We feel like underdogs and we embrace it,” Ireland ahead Marissa Sheva stated. “I think it gives us a little bit of energy and we know the pressure is not on us, it’s on them for this game.”

The match was initially scheduled for a smaller downtown stadium however needed to be switched to Stadium Australia, at Sydney Olympic Park, which can be the venue for the Aug. 20 remaining.

“Ever since they moved stadiums we knew that it was going to be a massive crowd,” Sheva stated. “Having the opening game of the tournament against the hosts is an incredible opportunity.”

The hype round Sam Kerr and the Matildas has been rising Down Under because the countdown to the match Australia is co-hosting with New Zealand will get nearer to kick off.

The Matildas beat France 1-0 in a pleasant performed in entrance of a file 50,629 followers in Melbourne final week.

The earlier file crowd for a Matildas match in Australia was 36,109, set in November 2021 in a loss to the United States at Stadium Australia.

Ireland supervisor Vera Pauw acknowledges the problem for her squad, however she is emphasizing the significance of her workforce sticking to its recreation plan.

“Of course it’s not an ordinary game, but we have to bring it back to the tasks of the game,” Pauw stated. “At the end of the day, it’s the same pitch dimensions as we have back home.”

Pauw’s squad upset Australia 3-2 in a pleasant in Dublin in 2021 in the one earlier assembly between the groups on the senior stage. Louise Quinn, a beginning defender on Ireland’s World Cup roster, scored the profitable purpose on a second-half header.

“I think we’ve shown that we are capable of competing with the top teams in the world, so this should be no exception,” Sheva stated.

In April, Ireland performed two friendlies in opposition to the U.S. workforce, dropping 2-0 in Austin, Texas, and 1-0 in St. Louis, Missouri, to the back-to-back defending Women’s World Cup champions. The U.S. enters this World Cup because the top-ranked workforce and the match favourite.

The Irish hosted fifth-ranked France in a pleasant earlier this month, preserving the sport scoreless for almost a half earlier than dropping 3-0.

“We prepared by playing the best, so we’re ready to do that here,” Sheva stated. “We know that Australia is world-class so we’re going to get their best game.”

Australia is tenth in FIFA’s rankings, and followers within the host nation are assured the Matildas will advance to the knockout levels.

“We’re ready and confident to give them a game,” Sheva stated. “They’re in good form, but so are we.”

___

Taft Gantt is a scholar on the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

___

More AP Women’s World Cup protection: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup

Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC.

Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com