Footage has revealed certainly one of Ireland’s star gamers showing to refuse to shake the hand of Australia’s Caitlin Foord earlier than the Matildas’ triumphant opening World Cup recreation.
In what’s being interpreted as an epic on-pitch spat, social media footage from Thursday confirmed the 2 workforce’s gamers lining as much as shake fingers, fist bump and excessive 5 earlier than the match kicked off.
But Littlejohn appears to tug her hand away as Foord was moving into for a handshake.
The Irish midfielder then shook the following Matilda participant’s hand.
And that was simply the beginning of the controversy.
After the sport, Ireland’s Ruesha Littlejohn and Foord appeared to confront one another.
Australia prevailed 1-0 over Ireland and because the celebrations started Littlejohn appeared to method Foord on the pitch. However it seemed as if teammates held her again.
Tongues are wagging about what might have brought on the barney between the pair.
Speculation has centred on Littlejohn’s very current spilt with accomplice and Ireland captain Katie McCabe. Foord is sweet mates with McCabe with the 2 on the identical workforce in Britain.
Littlejohn and McCabe have been an Irish soccer energy couple for seven years.
They started relationship in 2016 and went public with the connection in 2019. Together, the pair have fronted campaigns to assist younger LGBTI folks.
“If I come home after a tough day at training, or if maybe a game doesn’t go our way, she understands to let the dust settle a little bit,” McCabe mentioned of Littlejohn in a 2022 interview with RSVP.
“I think we’ve got a really good balance of that, we know when to switch off from the football talk.”
But McCabe appeared to substantiate a cut up simply days in the past.
In an article for web site The Players’ Tribune, revealed on Tuesday, McCabe spoke in regards to the second she was instructed she was Ireland captain in 2017 and the way she was with Littlejohn on the time.
However, she referred to her relationship prior to now tense and Littlejohn as “my partner at the time”.
McCabe and Foord each play for Women’s Super League workforce Arsenal and are mates off the pitch.
Pictures have been not too long ago shared of the 2 on vacation with mates on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
There’s no suggestion Foord had something to do with the Irish couple’s break-up.
“Caitlin and Katie are great friends. They play together for Arsenal. They spend a lot of time together. But there’s nothing more to it than that,” a Matildas supply instructed the Daily Mail.
“Clearly there is still some tension surrounding from Littlejohn’s side of things which looks like it spilled over a bit on Thursday night,” they added.
Foord hasn’t commented on the alleged snub.
Irish captain McCabe made some enemies on Thursday evening at Stadium Australia the place she clattered into quite a lot of Matildas gamers.
McCabe, who is thought for her aggressive play for Arsenal within the Women’s Super League, took out Hayley Raso with a borderline reckless studs-up problem that had Australian followers furious.
McCabe was probably the most booked participant within the Super League this season gone, with an equal-top seven yellow playing cards, and even has a Twitter account devoted to her referee interactions referred to as “Did Katie McCabe get a yellow card today?”
Former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Karen Bardsley referred to as it petulant.
“There’s an element of petulance here from Katie McCabe,” Bardsley mentioned on the BBC.
“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.”
However, McCabe’s antics weren’t hated by everybody, with English presenter Laura Woods loving it.
“At one point she‘d gone down, she had her fingers strapped up, nothing is going to stop her, is it?” former talkSPORT Breakfast host Woods instructed ITV at half time.
Source: www.news.com.au
