Preview: Ireland poised to play role of spoil sports

The Republic of Ireland landed in Sydney on Wednesday morning for the game of their lives.

This is it. All the build-up and graft has been leading towards a monumental World Cup showdown with Australia at the magnificent Accor Stadium, which will welcome over 75,000 fans on Thursday.

The Matildas are on home soil of course, but the raucous welcome Ireland received at the airport was a reminder that the traveling green army [plus diaspora] will make their presence felt.

It promises to be an incredible occasion, one Pauw described as the crowning moment of her career.

"We are realistic," she said. "We are very realistic. Otherwise you can't succeed. The key thing is that everybody has no fear of failure.

"We will go into this game in a way that we think we can play against Australia and without any fear. Whether it’s the crowd or the pressure of the opponent, we are ready for that and we will see if it is good enough.

"We will play our game, we have a game plan. Australia has a lot of good players, and we have watched them and analysed them, of course, and we have set out our game plan."

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Pauw stood the nation down from shin-watch by confirming Denise O'Sullivan is fit to play, though their final training session - delayed because the team coach got stuck in rush-hour traffic - was in keeping with the slightly chaotic vibe of the last week.

This is a team that never seems to do things the easy way, but they are nothing if not resilient.

"They have huge experience, class