Vera Pauw claims the Republic of Ireland's World Cup team “feared for their bodies” in the abandoned Women’s World Cup warm-up against Colombia.
In an interview in Brisbane with Off The Ball, insisted what was happening on the field was “outside the rules of the game”.
She said: “We do not fear any physical contact, you know that, we are ourselves a team, that within the rules of the game, we are a very tough playing team.”
Irish midfielder Denise O’Sullivan sustained a shin injury in a challenge and was taken to hospital.
“She was in awful pain of course, potentially a very serious injury, she was on the ground.”
Pauwapproached the opposition bench in an effort to keep things on the field calm, telling them: “We all want to go to the World Cup.”
While Pauw said the bench did not instigate anything negative happening on the field, she did not receive any help from them.
She added: “The players, [for] the first time since I am coaching them, they feared, they feared for their bodies.”
The behind-closed-doors match was abandoned after around 20 minutes after becoming “overly physical”, the Football Association of Ireland said.
A statement from the FAI said: “The behind-closed-doors game between the Ireland women’s national team and Colombia on Friday evening was ended after 20 minutes of play.”
