 Republic of Ireland defender Niamh Fahey says crowds won't put off her team during their World Cup debut. That milestone moment is inching ever closer for the Girls in Green, whose first tilt at a global title begins Thursday against tournament co-hosts Australia on a double-billed opening day of the tournament kicking off with New Zealand taking on Norway in Auckland. Ireland's meeting with the Matildas proved so popular that as early as January it was moved to the competition's largest venue, the 80,000-plus capacity Stadium Australia in Sydney. 'I don't think you can realistically replicate that scenario, even if you wanted to try,' said Fahey, speaking at an open training session at Brisbane's Meakin Park. 'You ready yourself like any other game and you try and not think about the outside. 'As cliche as that sounds, it's 11 v 11 on the pitch and you focus on the game and yeah there's noise, but to be honest, even in games where there's been 40,000, 50,000, once the game is on you don't really hear that crowd, that noise. 'It's only the anticipation those first couple of minutes and once those five minutes, or once you've settled into the game I think it just becomes a formality in terms of how the game is going to pan out. Niamh Fahey of Republic of Ireland and Grace Geyoro of France battle for possession a recent friendly(Picture: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) 'I think if you can get through those first couple of minutes it makes all the difference, you don't really hear it. 'Well, I don't hear it anyway, so I can't speak for everybody.' The Republic only managed to get through about 20 minutes of their meeting with Colombia in an aborted behind-closed-doors friendly on Friday that sounded anything but amiable, with key midfielder Denise O'Sullivan rushed to hospital with an suspected shin injury. An update on the team's official Twitter account on Saturday morni){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Republic of Ireland defender Niamh Fahey says crowds won’t put off her team during their World Cup debut.
That milestone moment is inching ever closer for the Girls in Green, whose first tilt at a global title begins Thursday against tournament co-hosts Australia on a double-billed opening day of the tournament kicking off with New Zealand taking on Norway in Auckland.
Ireland’s meeting with the Matildas proved so popular that as early as January it was moved to the competition’s largest venue, the 80,000-plus capacity Stadium Australia in Sydney.
‘I don’t think you can realistically replicate that scenario, even if you wanted to try,’ said Fahey, speaking at an open training session at Brisbane’s Meakin Park.