Australian media lose run of themselves over ‘petulant’ Katie McCabe

“There‘s an element of petulance here."

Some within the Australian media appear have lost the run of themselves after labelling Ireland's Katie McCabe as "public enemy number one" following her performance against Oz in their World Cup opener. McCabe is known for being a very physical player who loves a challenge and is willing to put everything on the line for club and country. However, according to FOX Sport, the Arsenal star crossed the line in Thursday's 1-0 defeat to the hosts.

Australian media and BBC pundit criticise Katie McCabe's performance.

They claim that she was "reckless" and made a "bone-rattling challenge" while posting a collection of images that were described as "deeply incriminating". Former England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was a pundit for the BBC and continued this narrative, by labelling the Irish star as "petulant". “There‘s an element of petulance here from Katie McCabe,” Bardsley said. “These challenges from her have just started to add up now. It is the referee‘s responsibility to manage those situations, because if you don’t nip it in the bud then it will just keep escalating. “We certainly don‘t want to see anyone either stretchered off or sent off.”

Laura Woods acts as the voice of reason.

Laura Woods, however, proved to be the voice of reason, and was loving McCabe's determined and fearless style of play. “At one point she‘d gone down, she had her fingers strapped up, nothing is going to stop her, is it?” Woods said at half-time on ITV's coverage. “I‘m looking forward to seeing what happens in the second half between these two, as long as none of them get damaged!” https://twitter.com/gm_pod/status/1682079050318094342?s=46&t=wF5rde0ZLG3Z6BGow_ZUVw Ireland will play Canada in their next game, and it will take place on Wednesday at 1pm. Related links:

• RTÉ panel question Ireland's attacking strategy in World Cup opener loss
• Ireland lose 1-0 to Australia in their opening match of the Women's World Cup
• Ireland vs Australia: Team news, TV details and everything you need to know about Women's World Cup opener