Katie McCabe opened the scoring for Republic of Ireland in their Women's World Cup clash against Canada on Wednesday with a goal of the tournament contender.
The 27-year-old winger, who plays her club football for Women's Super League side Arsenal, caught Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan out with a swinging delivery from the right-hand side.
As you can see from the footage below, McCabe netted an Olimpico goal [a corner kick that scores without being touched by another player] after the ball sailed over Sheridan's head.
It took just three minutes and 36 seconds for the Ireland captain to give Vera Pauw's side an advantage at the Perth Rectangular Stadium – and my word what a strike it was.Ahead of the Group B clash against Canada, media outlet news.com.au criticised McCabe for her style of play in their opener against Australia; a game they went on to lose 1-0.“Irish captain Katie McCabe sparks controversy with aggressive play against Matildas in tournament opener,” they wrote.
“Ireland’s controversial captain Katie McCabe sparked a biff with the Matildas and sent the football world into a frenzy with one incident."
Ireland manager Vera Pauw, however, brushed off those suggestions while speaking to reporters.
“Australia are very powerful, I don’t know how many fouls were given,” she said. “We had to take the heat out of it a bit but there was the same proportion on both sides.
“We try to play within the rules of the game and one of the key things in training we always try to play without fouls. I don’t know how many fouls there were today."Pauw added: “But we are a team that is battling, we are Irish, the DNA of the team is to battle. There was a few challenges from both sides and that was just before half time.”
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