Can the Matildas win the Women’s World Cup? For an independent, unbiased view, let’s ask England coach Sarina Wiegman, who just watched her side’s 30-match unbeaten run go up in green and gold smoke.
“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 … I think there are many teams that could win the World Cup. I think Australia’s one of them.”
Permission to dream: granted.
Can the Matildas win the Women’s World Cup? For the two-and-a-half years of Tony Gustavsson’s tenure as coach, that question has ranged from sounding hopeful, to optimistic, bullish, naive, deluded, even downright silly at times. Now, suddenly, it sounds slightly more realistic. Why not?
If they can do it on a cold, rainy Tuesday night in Brentford, with over 700 caps of experience sidelined through injury, against the reigning European champions, then they certainly can do it on Aussie soil, with a whole nation behind them.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson was ecstatic after his team won 2-0 against England.Credit: Getty Images
It now sits rightly within the bounds of possibility, and that’s really all a host nation can ask for leading into a major tournament – especially one that’s ridden the peaks and troughs of football like the Matildas.
This 2-0 upset victory over England means everything for Australia’s World Cup hopes – and absolutely nothing at the same time. As Gustavsson and his match-winning captain Sam Kerr were both at pains to emphasise afterwards, this was only a friendly, and the final scoreline failed tell the whole story, both of the 90 minutes and the bigger picture they fit into.
“We’ve got to take it with a grain of salt,” Kerr said.
“It’s obviously a really big performance from us, we’ve got a lot of players out. But unfortunately beating England tonight doesn’t win us anything. We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves.”
England were dominant in possession and territory and on another day, they would have scored. But they still might not have won. For all the shots they generated, few were clear-cut enough to truly trouble the Matildas defensively, and a rearguard that for so long has felt like it was made out of florists’ foam – too easily pushed and prodded out of shape – is now blooming beautifully, at just the right time.
This was a clean sheet for the ages, compact and confident in such difficult conditions, richly earned by executing Gustavsson’s tactical instructions to perfection – and a strong pointer to how Australia will play if the Matildas and Lionesses meet again in the World Cup’s round of 16.
“They have a lot of weapons,” Gustavsson said. “If you don’t defend as a team, you get exposed, like we did a couple of times in the middle of the second half. We had a very, very clear plan of what we needed to take away from England and we did it enough times to win this game. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough.”
That work in defence was the bedrock for the two goals at the other end. Unsurprisingly, both involved Kerr. With only 99 days to go until Australia’s opening Group B match against Ireland, it’d be nice to be slightly less reliant on her wizardry – but if Argentina’s men rely so much on Lionel Messi, who are we to act any differently?
The opener was set up by centre-back Clare Hunt in the 32nd minute with a long ball over the top; the latter was scored by Charli Grant, deputising for the injured Steph Catley, whose diving header met Kerr’s brilliant cross and finished off a swift, slick counter-attacking move in the 67th minute.
Hunt and Grant, both A-League products, have only been recently blooded at international level by Gustavsson. Both now feel as indispensable to his World Cup plans as the likes of Kerr, Carpenter and Polkinghorne.
Two years ago, Gustavsson pointed out, the Matildas took a similarly under-strength squad into April friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands, and were routed 5-0 and 5-2.
“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.
“It’s just a sense of pride, I guess, seeing these players who could use all the excuses in the world not to perform today, playing [and beating] a team that has the best form in the world right now. But that’s not what this team is about.”
Belief has often been lacking around the Matildas, but not within the Matildas – not even after all the poor results and scratchy performances, and the pressure that mounted on Gustavsson’s shoulders throughout. His players always had faith that the hard times they went through would set them up for success. So did he. Now everyone else is starting to feel it, too.
“I’ve always believed in this team, and I’m so proud to be part of it,” he said.
“The internal belief has always been there – but I also think it’s very important we don’t get carried away now. We need to stay very, very humble.
“Sometimes you’re not as bad as people say you are when you lose, but you’re not as good as people say you are when you win, either. We know on any given day, we might not have the best team, but we can beat the best teams.”
Watch every match of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League on Stan Sport. Returns this week with the quarter-finals.
