Australian sport has always had an affinity with the language of warfare, and there was one phrase doing the rounds at AAMI Park on Monday night, coming out of every Matilda’s mouth and even that of their coach.
“Backs against the wall,” Ellie Carpenter said in response to a question about what inspired their 4-0 rout of Canada.
Hayley Raso, who scored a brace in a player-of-the-match performance, said something similar: “We had our backs against the wall, and we showed what we can do when we do.”
The expression has been a motif of this team, a way to get things done when required. It helped them to not only come back from the verge of a group-stage exit at a home World Cup, but also put four goals past the reigning Olympic gold medallists.
It’s worth asking: why do the Matildas need their backs against a wall to conjure such a brilliant display? Why did it take a near-catastrophic loss to Nigeria to galvanise them, and why did they need such high-stakes pressure to fire from all cylinders and produce a performance befitting their collective maturity?
It happened four years ago at the last World Cup, when Ante Milicic’s Australia lost their opener to Italy and then went 2-0 down to Brazil only to come back and win 3-2.
And there’s an argument it has been a theme long embedded in Australia’s national teams – both women’s and men’s.
That includes the Socceroos, who have a habit of qualifying for World Cups via the play-offs and then – in the case of Qatar 2022 under Graham Arnold – going on to exceed expectations and making the round of 16.
“We thrive under pressure,” Alanna Kennedy said. “We ideally wouldn’t have wanted to have been in that position, but we’re always going to fight to the end.
“It’s the Aussie mentality, we love the challenge, and I think when our backs are against the wall, that’s when we really show our character and who we are as a team. We were never going to shy away from tonight.”
The Matildas celebrate their fourth goal against Canada.Credit: Eddie Jim
If there is a positive to take into the knockout stages of the tournament, it is that backs will be firmly against the proverbial wall from here on in. Everything is on the line in every match, starting in Sydney on Monday night.
Coach Tony Gustavsson knows it – even if he isn’t so familiar with Australia’s tendency to play themselves into a hole just so they can play themselves out of it.
“The fact that it is must-win all the way through, I think it helps this team, because it means the pressure will be on every single game,” Gustavsson said.
“I think I need help from some other people that have been part of the program for longer than I have, in terms of the culture and the never-say-die attitude.
“I do know it’s a superpower, though, that I’m very proud of being a part of it, but I also think this team has proven that in other games when … they’re not up against the wall, it just needs to be good performance.
“If you look at the England game or if you look at the Sweden game, and then also to look at the GB game at the Olympics and such.
“So I do think there’s moments where this team can play that high-intensity attacking football even when they’re not up against the wall.”
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