She may be mini by name and stature but Katrina ‘Mini’ Gorry sure knows how to pack a punch when it comes to pulling the trigger on the football field.
She may be mini by name and stature but Katrina ‘Mini- Gorry sure knows how to pack a punch when it comes to pulling the trigger on the football field.
Despite the Westfield Matildas sitting on a 1-nil lead in the second half against Vietnam last night, the match to decide an automatic World Cup berth was still precariously placed as the host nation refused to go away.
Then in the 90th minute, with the ground and players from both sides drenched from the earlier deluge, up stepped Gorry to smash home a thunderous strike to seal all three points for the Australians.
Coming into the tournament stating that she hoped she could take the goal scoring potency that saw her take out Brisbane Roar-s highest scorer in the Westfield W-League last season into the AFC Women-s Asian Cup, Gorry delivered at a critical time.
It may not have been her best (or anyone-s for that matter) game in a green and gold shirt but the pint sized 21 year old came up trumps to put the result to bed and leave no doubt that Australia will compete at the FIFA Women-s World Cup in Canada next year.
“It was really exciting. I haven-t been to a World Cup so to qualify in this game is really exciting for all of us,” Gorry said.
Trying to recall the goal, Gorry, as she is becoming accustomed to doing, sunk her boot into the shot with everything she had once the space opened up.
“I actually didn-t realise it had gone in until the girls started celebrating…and I-m just really excited to be part of this squad,” Gorry said.
“At the time I wasn-t really thinking about it, I just hit it. I knew it was wet conditions so if it bounced off I knew Katie (Gill) would get the scraps so I just hit it as hard as I could and it went in.”
The goal was her second of the tournament and took her tally to seven goals from 20 international appearances - not a bad return for a central midfielder.
To hear what else Gorry had to say after the game and see the sumptuous strike, watch the video above.
The Westfield Matildas will meet either Korea Republic or China P.R. in the Semi Finals of the AFC Women-s Asian Cup on Thursday night at 11.45pm AEST. The match will be broadcast LIVE and exclusive on Fox Sports.