The silver lining in the Matildas’ sad fourth-place Olympics finish

Despite the Matildas’ heartbreaking loss against the USA in the bronze medal playoff, there is a major silver lining for coach Tony Gustavsson’s troops.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the Matildas.

You could see the disappointment on the faces of the Matildas after a crushing 4-3 defeat to the United States in the bronze medal playoff.

A frustrating opening half littered with defensive errors cost the Matildas badly, and despite a second-half fightback the mountain was too high to climb for Tony Gustavsson’s side.

Despite the Matildas exiting Tokyo with nothing more than themselves and their suitcases, a silver lining is embedded within their fourth place finish.

When Tony Gustavsson was announced as Matildas head coach on September 29 after Ante Milicic had resigned in anticipation of his incoming role as manager of Macarthur FC in the A-League, he would never have imagined his first game at the helm would take place almost seven months later.

Gustavsson, who hails from Sweden, took charge of his inaugural Matildas game on April 10 earlier this year against Germany.

The result was not what the Swede had in mind. A 5-2 defeat was followed by a 5-0 loss to the Netherlands just three days later, and had Australian football fans concerned about the 47-year-old being the right man to lead the side.

Kerr did everything she could to lift the Matildas to a medal in Tokyo.

On the surface, Gustavsson’s appointment may seem like any other coaching hire in sport. But with the 2022 Asian Cup on the horizon followed by the 2023 Women’s World Cup — to be hosted on our shores alongside New Zealand — there is a significant amount of extra pressure to succeed.

Somewhat ironically, it was a victory against Australia’s World Cup co-hosts that gave Gustavsson his first win at the helm, as the Matildas emerged 2-1 winners against New Zealand in a scoreline that certainly flattered our trans-Tasman counterparts.

A deflating loss to Sweden was followed by a dull scoreless draw against the United States to round out the Matildas’ group campaign in Tokyo.

Australian and New Zealand football officials react after being awarded the hosting rights to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Matildas’ all-time leading goalscorer and captain Sam Kerr inspired the side to a thrilling 4-3 extra-time victory over Team GB in the quarter-finals, with 2.24 million Australians tuning in to watch.

A heartbreaking semi-final loss to the Swedes was compounded by the 4-3 defeat to the USA, but in the space of just over three weeks, there is renewed hope that Australia is on the path to something special.

Gustavsson has only been able to work with the side for just a few months this year, and despite a rocky start, the Matildas managed to defeat Team GB, who are largely comprised of players from England, the No. 6 team in the world according to FIFA.

Gustavsson took charge of the Matildas in September last year

The Australians were agonisingly close in games against Sweden and the US, ranked No. 5 and No. 1 in the world respectively.

If this is the magic Gustavsson managed to work in just a handful of games, imagine what the side will look like when they take to the field at the 2023 World Cup.

With a team packed to the brim of young talent and players in their peak, there’s a lot to love.

Kerr has plenty of years left in her yet, and will be 29 when the biggest stage in women’s football is on our shores. She shares an almost telepathic connection with fellow forward Caitlin Foord, who will also be firmly in her prime.

There were devastated faces all around the Matildas after going down 4-3 in the bronze medal playoff to the US.

For the youngsters of the squad, like Ellie Carpenter, Mary Fowler and Kyra Cooney-Cross to name just three, they will only grow from this experience with the Matildas and go from strength-to-strength with their respective clubs between now and then.

You throw all of this into a blend, and there’s only good times on the horizon for the Matildas.

The fire in the belly from the defeat against the US will sting for now, and in some respects, so it should.

But when the opening game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup rolls around, the Matildas team that takes the pitch will be light years ahead of the one that finished fourth in Tokyo.

Originally published as The silver lining in the Matildas’ sad fourth-place Olympics finish