Women’s football: “Too physical”, the match between Ireland and Colombia stopped after 20 minutes of play

2023-07-14 18:40:57

Funny preparation match between Ireland and Colombia. Scheduled before the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand which will begin on July 20, it has not been completed. He was even stopped after 20 minutes of play.

A ‘friendly’ in name but not in nature, the Republic of Ireland’s behind-closed-doors encounter with Colombia came to a premature end earlier, with Denise O’Sullivan taken to hospital for a scan. pic.twitter.com/bSU9lhyE3J

— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 14, 2023

After a foul on Denise O’Sullivan, suffering in a tibia and transported to the hospital, the Irish federation asked the referee, Caitlin Williams, to anticipate the end of the meeting considered “too physical”, according to the information from the Irish Times, relaying a press release from the body. He also specifies that “the Irish team then followed a complete training session to continue preparations for their opening match (of the World Cup) against Australia on July 20. »

Behind closed doors and without journalists

Before this fault, the referee had distributed two yellow cards during this match behind closed doors. Still according to The Irish Times, it was the Colombian coach, Nelson Abadía, in connection with his Federation, who had not given his agreement for the broadcasting of this confrontation or the presence of journalists in the stands. Regarding this last point, the Irish media explains it because of “the absence of an agreement between the two teams for the entry of the media”. In addition, the Colombian coach feared, it seems, that his system of play and his tactics would be revealed before the start of the World Cup. Even if the video of the match must be shared with the other qualified selections on a dedicated platform.