Far from home, confronted by a sell-out crowd on a rainy and miserable London night, and beset by a host of injuries. If the Matildas wanted a brutal test to prove where they stand ahead of the World Cup, they could hardly have asked for a better one than England posed on Wednesday morning.
But the Matildas stunned the world number four side 2-0 in the finest win of coach Tony Gustavsson’s tenure, taking a massive step forward in their World Cup preparations thanks to goals from captain Sam Kerr and young defender Charli Grant.
Here are the biggest talking points from the match.
IS IT TIME TO START BELIEVING?
“I think there are many teams that could win the World Cup. I think Australia’s one of them.”
They are the words of Sarina Wiegman, England manager, immediately after watching her superstar team’s 30-game unbeaten streak come unstuck at the hands of Sam Kerr and the Matildas.
As a player, Wiegman represented the Netherlands 104 times. As a manager, she is a three-time winner of FIFA’s award for the best women’s coach of the year, guided England to a first-ever European Championship and a two-and-a-half year unbeaten run – and before that, she took the Dutch to a runners-up finish at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Wiegman knows what it takes to win a World Cup. Her team is narrowly second-favourites in the betting market to do so this year. So when she says the Aussies are in the mix when the Cup kicks off in 99 days, believe her.
“I think they have some ingredients that are really good,” she said.
“They’re aggressive, they’re tight, today in the 18-yard box, they were good with the headers.”
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A couple of years ago – when Tony Gustavsson took charge of the side in September 2020 ¬– the prospect of an Aussie World Cup win on home soil seemed far-fetched.
The checklist of problems facing the Matildas was lengthy: a thin squad with an over-reliance on a core group of veterans; defensive vulnerability; attacking profligacy; an inability to manage games or effectively execute a tactical plan for a full 90 minutes.
The 935 days under the Swedish coach’s rule have been a rollercoaster ride for Aussie fans. There were gutting defeats where one or more of those problems reared their ugly heads. There were flashes of promise, moments of magic, too. Plenty of those. But win or lose, Gustavsson didn’t change his tune. His belief in the squad’s potential, and his faith in the painstaking process of realising that potential, never wavered.
Today, after the greatest win of his tenure, others might finally believe the Matildas can go all the way and lift a trophy that seemed far out of reach a couple of years ago.
But things are different for Tony.
“This might sound a bit strange,” he said. “It hasn’t changed my mind at all … The internal belief has always been there.”
Belief, yes, but mixed with humility – and an unshakeable focus on the end goal.
Gustavsson added: “But I also think it’s very important we don’t get carried away. We need to stay very, very humble.”
Sam Kerr made a similar point.
“Unfortunately beating England tonight doesn’t win us anything,” Kerr said. “I wouldn’t be here if it did,” she joked, “I’d be out celebrating!”
Beating one team – no matter how good they might be – does not win you a World Cup.
But the belief that the Matildas can match it with the best has now been backed up with proof.
As Gustavsson said: “We know that on any given day we might not be the best team, but we can beat the best team.”
Matildas end England’s 30-game streak! | 01:06
THE SQUAD — AND A SILVER LINING TO BIG WORRY
Let’s go back to that list of problems that faced the Matildas when Gustavsson arrived. Firstly, an over-reliance on a group of veteran players. Football Australia’s ‘Women’s Performance Gap’ report published in December 2020 presented a host of worrying findings.
Australia had some of the worst squad depth among 12 top nations, having used the fewest number of players in the four years from 2017-2020 – and giving ‘Fringe’ players the fewest number of minutes.
Gustavsson’s mandate was clear: broaden the pool of Matildas while simultaneously preparing for the biggest tournament in Australian football history.
Today’s starting XI against England shows the end result of the concerted effort to increase the depth of the squad.
Clare Hunt is 24. Ellie Carpenter is 22. Kyra Cooney-Cross is 21. Charlotte Grant is 21. Mary Fowler is 20.
Alternatively, consider who wasn’t playing. Steph Catley, Emily van Egmond, Caitlin Foord, Emily Gielnik, Elise Kellond-Knight, Alanna Kennedy, Chloe Logarzo, Kyah Simon – the list goes on and on and on, and tallies well over 700 international caps of experience.
All of those veterans are injured.
Tameka Yallop, yet another centurion, went down with an ankle injury against England, as did Sydney FC star Cortnee Vine. An update on their status has not yet been released.
No wonder Gustavsson is frustrated.
“Enough is enough,” Gustavsson said of the injuries.
“I mean, we had enough of this now in terms of injuries, and I just hope enough is enough and that there’s time enough for these players to get back, and I can’t comment on how severe it is.
“But if this win came with too big of a price, then it will hurt me and the team, and I hope it’s not that severe.”
But as Gustavsson pointed out, it’s not the first time his Matildas have been beset by a wave of injuries.
Two years ago, an injury-struck Matildas team faced Germany and the Netherlands and were demolished: 5-0 and 5-2. Today was proof of just how far the project has come.
“We’ve spent two years investing in depth in this roster,” he said.
“We had Western Sydney Wanderers [Hunt’s team] in the A-League against Man United out here. We had Charli Grant, who plays for Vittsjö, a mid-table team in Sweden, against Chelsea – all these big names, big clubs.
“We might not have the biggest resources, the most players in the big clubs in the big leagues, but what we have is heart, and commitment, and pride to represent Australia.”
Injuries are an unfortunate fact of life – never more than in tournament football, where the turnaround between games is short. But the silver lining to the long line of injuries has been more chances to expose young or fringe players to elite international opponents – and giving them a chance to prove they belong.
GRANT AND THE YOUNG GUNS STAKES HER CLAIM TO STARTING SPOT
One of those rough diamonds has been Charlotte Grant. A rampaging fullback with seemingly endless energy – and boundless personality to boot – the 21-year-old finally stepped out of the shadows left by two of Australia’s bigger superstars: Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley.
Carpenter spent most of the last 12 months recovering from an ACL tear. In that time, Grant proved herself a more-than capable replacement at right back.
But Carpenter is back – and back to her best, as her form in recent weeks for French giants Olympic Lyonnais as well as her performance against England proves.
Luckily for Grant, the other side of the defensive line has an absence. Steph Catley has been out for a month with a non-contact foot injury, and Gustavsson said when the squad for this camp was announced that: “When it comes to the World Cup, it’s too early to comment.”
Assuming she is fit, there’s no guarantee that Catley – so brilliant and so reliable for the Matildas for a decade – will get her starting spot back. That’s how good Grant has been, with her maiden international goal just reward for a fantastic performance on both ends of the pitch.
“To get a goal was just so exciting, I am just pumped,” she said.
“I just put my head on it and hoped for the best and I am just glad it went in the back of the net”.
Her brilliance gives Gustavsson the kind of headache he will love to have. And Grant wasn’t the only youngster to put her name up in lights. Five-cap Clare Hunt was fantastic in centre-back alongside centurion Clare Polkinghorne.
21-year-old Kyra Cooney-Cross was equally superb next to vastly experienced 30-year-old Katrina Gorry in central midfield.
Former Matilda Grace Gill said on Channel 10: “I thought across the game, she got better and better.
“As the side started to fatigue, I thought she really grew into the game. There’s a few occasions where she just ran into space ball at her feet. She’s still outrunning players for speed, with the ball at her feet on the dribble and then connecting and finding players in in on the past.
“And she’s also got this wonderful ability to shoot from range, which we saw her line up on a couple of occasions, too.”
But one very difficult decision on who to start at the World Cup might be all-but-locked in: Mackenzie Arnold as goalkeeper.
Player of the tournament in the three-match Cup of Nations series in February, she has now started five-straight games for the Matildas despite plenty of competition at the position – and her superb performance against England has plenty of pundits pencilling her in to hold onto her No. 1 spot come July.
