Reigning Olympic Champions, Canada on Wednesday rediscovered their scoring form to beat gutsy Republic of Ireland 2-1 in their second Group match of the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Adriana Leon scored the winner in the second half of the fixture played in a wet and windy Perth Oval, in Australia.
In an exciting first half that had attacking play at both ends, Ireland captain Katie McCabe opened the scoring with a fourth minute corner that curled through the air and into the net, giving the girls in green their first-ever World Cup goal.
The Olympic Gold Medalists equalized on the stroke of halftime, with a powerful cross from midfielder Julia Grosso, which deflected off Ireland’s Megan Connolly for an own goal.
Fresh off a scoreless draw with Nigeria, on Friday, Canada put themselves ahead in the 53rd minute of the match; and now has four (4) points,
whilst the Republic of Ireland, ranked 22 by FIFA are all but eliminated, with zero points from their first two games.
Their last encounter though is against Nigeria, the nine-time African Champions, on Monday July 31st, 2023.
