The Shellharbour talent was a late withdrawal ahead of Tuesday's final group game against the US, after twinging her leg during the warm-up. Foord was replaced by former Illawarra Stingrays forward Mary Fowler, who impressed during the 0-0 stalemate.

However, the Mercury understands it was a minor issue and Aussie fans can expect to see Foord back on the field for their next game.

"Caitlin felt something in her leg during warm-up and our sports medicine team decided it was a risk for her to play, we wanted to play it safe," Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said.

"But I'm going to use a quote that I've used for the team early on and quote Charles Darwin. He would say, 'It's not the strongest that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives, it's the one that is most adaptable to change,' and that's something we've talked about for months now, whether that's weather circumstances, COVID protocol, cancelled training or a player getting injured, there can be a lot of different circumstances.

"This team has shown tremendous adaptability, no matter who's on the park, it's very clear every player is ready to execute the game plan."

Read more: Sakakibara overcomes horror start to progress to Olympic semi-final

Australia's football medal hopes lay with the Matildas after the Olyroos crashed out on Wednesday night.

Graham Arnold's side entered their final group match needing at least a draw to keep their campaign alive, but fell 2-0 to Egypt.

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