Matilda Caitlin Foord reveals black eye she copped against Sweden
Matildas star Caitlin Foord reveals the shocking black eye she copped against Sweden – and explains why the World Cup loss was her ‘worst nightmare’
- Foord was hurt in physical clash with Swedish skipper
- Played the rest of the game with head bandaged
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Caitlin Foord has revealed the painful-looking black eye she suffered during the Women’s World Cup loss to Sweden that she has described as her ‘worst nightmare’.
Foord clashed heads with Swedish captain Kosovare Asllani before halftime but soldiered on, sporting a bandaged head, for the entirety of the 2-0 loss in the bronze medal play-off.
She posted a photo of her black-and-blue face to Instagram on Sunday after she and her teammates were honoured with the key to the city at an awards ceremony in Brisbane.
The image was accompanied by the words: ‘The shiner is coming along nicely. Thanks for all the messages.’
Foord looked like she’d just been doing some boxing instead of playing football as she revealed the state of her black eye on Instagram
Matildas star Hayley Raso tends to Foord (right, on the ground) after her head clash with Swedish skipper Kosovare Asllani left both players stricken on the turf
Foord played in the 4-3 loss to the US in the bronze medal playoff at the Tokyo Olympics and said the defeat by Sweden in the World Cup playoff for third place was a case of deja vu.
‘It hurts to be here and get so close and fall short again,’ she said.
‘The exact same thing happened at the Olympics and it was my worst nightmare for that to happen again and it has happened again.
‘We just need to grow and learn from it and never let this happen again.
‘I feel like we deserved to get something out of this tournament. I know we have, but personally for us to not have something around our neck is very disappointing.’
The Matildas will campaign in Paris Olympic qualifiers in October and will build towards playing in a final in 2024.
‘I guess we need to be at our best every single game and every moment, and hopefully some luck falls our way,’ she said.
‘These last two games the luck has fallen to the other teams.
‘Sometimes that just happens. I guess you do create your own luck and that will happen for us moving forward. We will win something.’
The tough-as-nails Aussie played out the remainder of the loss with her head bandaged
Foord (left, in sunglasses) had her spirits brightened on Sunday when the Matildas were treated to a surprise performance of their unofficial team song, Strawberry Kisses, by pop star Nikki Webster (centre) at an awards ceremony in Brisbane
Foord showed the commitment and resilience that has been her trademark in the quarter-final.
She said she had no intention of leaving the pitch with her injury.
‘As long as there was no blood. I am not good with blood,’ she said.
‘I think if that happened it would have been a different story.
‘This wasn’t going to stop me. I wanted to give everything and wanted to leave everything out there.
‘I would have taken this (shiner) with a medal around my neck. I guess it just hurts a bit more that there is nothing to show for it.’
Foord allayed fears that she may have been concussed.
‘I was completely fine. I knew what happened. I could say the score, who we were playing and who we played last,’ she said.
‘I passed all the tests. I didn’t black out. It is just an egg that has turned into a bruise.’
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