Courtney Brosnan: Resilience is part of Irish culture

Courtney Brosnan is confident the Republic of Ireland will rise to a historic occasion at the Accor Stadium in Sydney today.

The World Cup finally begins for the Girls in Green who face a highly fancied Australia in Sydney.

Over 75,000 fans will be in attendance, with a considerable Irish presence anticipated at the landmark showdown.

It's a daunting first match for Vera Pauw's team but goalkeeper Brosnan has faith they have all the tools required to withstand an Aussie onslaught.

"It's amazing, difficult to put into words," she said. "Qualifying for World Cup was the dream and it’s added to by the biggest World Cup crowd.

"This is the biggest game of our careers but we have to take it for what it is. It's 90 minutes, 11 v 11.

"Resilience is part of Irish culture. You can see the progress off the pitch, where we've come on and that helps you on the pitch. The Irish never back out of a fight; we choose the big friendlies and it’s a dream to play against them."

Australia beat France 1-0 last Friday in a high-quality friendly in Melbourne. Tony Gustavsson's slick, powerful outfit have aspirations of winning the tournament and Brosnan acknowledged Ireland are going to have to be foot perfect to have any hopes of getting a result.

"I thought it was a great game between two top seeds," she said.

"It was nice to see them playing quality opposition before we play them.

"We know the quality of Australia and how they press and have changed since we last played them [in September 2021]. We'll do the proper analysis and be prepared.

"They've changed in the last couple of years but so have we. Australia have been a top side for years and are showing how dominant they are on the world stage.

"Everybody is excited. We control what we control.