When news broke of Sam Kerr's injury an hour before kick-off, it was like someone had stopped the music and turned on the lights at a party.
Australia had exuded confidence going into their World Cup opener against the Republic of Ireland, but the loss of their captain and star striker left them rattled.
Kerr and her manager Tony Gustavsson had faced the press 24 hours previously, cracking jokes about her trademark somersault celebration and speaking of their desire to lead Australia to a home World Cup triumph. It was, Gustavsson confirmed after the Matildas' 1-0 victory, a bluff.
"Sam is a massive part of Ireland's game-plan and we didn’t want to give that away in advance," said the Swede.
Fair enough. But her omission still gave Ireland a boost right before a physical, scrappy game began and there's a nagging sense that Vera Pauw's team didn't quite grasp the opportunity that Kerr's misfortune had presented to them.
Yes they were resilient, well organised and committed, as they always are. But they didn't take enough jabs at an Australia team who had been deflated by the absence of their star forward.
Perhaps with a bit more adventure, the Girls in Green could have poked at their opponents' vulnerabilties more emphaticially. The last 10 minutes, when substitute Abbie Larkin shone and Katie McCabe was pushed forward, showed Pauw's charges had a goal in them.
The manager will understandably point to the fact her side pushed high-class opposition to the very end, with their goal coming from a penalty after a Marissa Sheva foul on Raso.
Small margins, but at this level those moments are decisive and it must be acknowledged that the longer the game is played in your half, the higher the chances are that a little lapse in concentration will cost you dear. It happened against the USA in April, against France earlier this month, and against the Aussies here in Sydney.
"The game-plan worked and they couldn't do what they wanted to do," Pauw said afterwards.
"When we had to go further forward the change in tactical approach worked also. Until the last second we were able to put them under pressure and I am really proud on this stage with [over 75,000] people watching and it didn’t look like it was really affecting them.
"Our approach has been very good getting ready for this level."
It's a tough task to balance defensive solidity with sufficient attacking commitment against the very strongest teams but that's a puzzle Pauw must solve if her team are to nab a result against reigning Olympic champions Canada next Wednesday.
Lose again and they're out.
"Yes we can play against the best teams in the world," she added.
"We showed that against Sweden and the USA and against Australia, and next what is coming are the Olympic champions. We do not fear anyone and these players adapt so quickly. We need to see where we stand ahead of the next game.
"We prepared really well and you could see that, we could press until the last second and I think that we were more fit than our opponent because we got more and more space to play.
"We made changes so that there would not only control but more opportunism in our play because we needed to score and Lucy [Quinn] and Abbie did fantastically."
Pauw insisted that Sheva "is fine" after she was pictured in tears on the bench. The nippy attacker had done quite well up to the moment she tangled with Raso in the box and Brazilian referee Edina Alvez pointed to the spot. Those two seconds ended up deciding the game.
"If you play for first time at a World Cup and get a penalty against you it is normal that you will be upset," Pauw stressed.
"But she is fine. Anybody can make that mistake. I need to look back at it.
"It is probably also just the circumstances. At half-time I said this is a game that would be decided if one thing goes against you, if one team makes a mistake they will get the result because it was that type of a game."
And that's the crux of it. Ireland are a bit of a high-wire act in that they are superb at defending leads but not great at turning things around if they fall behind. It heightens the significance of not conceding the first goal.
The Girls in Green were always going to be up against it in a really difficult group. They went into the lion's den on Thursday and made it a dog fight; an ugly battle that Australia did not enjoy.
There were positives to take as they head for Perth to take on arguably the strongest side in the group, an immensely experienced Canada outfit who are physically tough and quick.
Pauw is the type of coach who prefers to do Plan A better than go searching for a Plan B, but it would be nice to see the shackles taken off McCabe, who could be freed to go into the middle of the park if Izzy Atkinson is trusted from the start.
We'll know where we stand in six days' time and though there'll be deliberations about the approach, no one could ever question the team's robust spirit.
"We are a team that is battling," said Pauw. "We are Irish. The DNA of the team is to battle."
