Matildas 4, Canada 0: Hayley Raso double propels Australia to knockout stage and helps Sam Kerr in the process
This is what a home World Cup is supposed to feel like. ADAM PEACOCK analyses a special night for the Matildas and Australian football.
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Alive.
As alive as the Matildas have ever been.
A 4-0 pummeling of Olympic champions Canada wasn’t just a case of surviving.
This was pure adrenaline. This was inspiring a nation. This was approaching a match with potentially calamitous consequences under unimaginable pressure and turning it into the most emphatic of World Cup statements.
And if advancement to the knockout stages wasn’t reward enough, Australia’s dominance also allowed Tony Gustavsson the luxury of keeping Sam Kerr on ice and providing her with more valuable recovery time for her troublesome calf.
A perfect script, if ever there was one.
The win was set up by the Matildas we know, flying around the pitch in the first half in their turquoise away kit, finally settled at a home World Cup.
Passing was crisp. Intent was more than apparent.
A deserved opener was a combination of both.
It all started with goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold who, after days of introspection following the error which led to Nigeria’s third goal, played a clean pass across the billiard table pitch to Caitlin Foord, who in turn released Arsenal teammate Steph Catley down the left.
“Til it’s done” might be the new catchphrase of the Matildas but their calling card is a play like this: quick movement from back to front making the opposition defensive line scramble.
Canada couldn’t scramble well enough for Catley’s cross.
It found Hayley Raso.
One-nil.
A second goal was given then taken away when Ellie Carpenter was ruled correctly, but gallingly, offside. Then a gift gave it back when Canada made a complete mess of a defensive corner.
Raso again.
Eardrum-bursting noise again.
Two-nil.
So this is what a home World Cup is meant to feel like. It enlivened the senses, quickened the pulse and gave life to an atmosphere you could feel in your marrow.
Gustavsson, under pressure all week, arrived at the ground in a jubilant mood – “I love it,” he smiled when asked about the pressure of the build-up – but that was tested near halftime when appeals for a handball were turned away. He got a yellow card for his trouble and the generally genial Swede paced to the dressing rooms demanding answers from the referee as to why he landed in trouble.
A desperate Bev Priestman made four changes at halftime but, now, the situation of the game suited the Matildas beautifully.
Their bite in midfield and at the back – Clare Hunt would stop an oncoming bus in this form – won the ball back with zeal, which allowed transitional moments with more and more Canadians moving forward to chase the game.
Australia’s third goal was a direct result of this. Foord, enjoying the freedom of a wide role, danced and pranced to open up a chance. Mary Fowler’s contact wasn’t clean, just inching over the line, but the net doesn’t need to burst to open to send crowds into delirium.
A late Catley penalty made it 4-0.
The demolition job was complete. Australia finished atop the group.
The Matildas’ success up front ensured another win on the bench.
Sam Kerr didn’t warm up before the game, during the first half or at halftime. Her troublesome calf was spared a potentially premature test. Seven more days before the round of 16 clash to get that famous calf right.
Disaster can wait for another day and, in advancing from the group, an unmitigated one has been avoided.
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Originally published as Matildas 4, Canada 0: Hayley Raso double propels Australia to knockout stage and helps Sam Kerr in the process
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