‘Chasm’: Alarm bells ringing for Matildas before Olympics
Some concerning details about the Matildas were exposed during Sunday morning’s brutal final match before the Olympics.
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Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson did not look like a concerned coach at full time despite his side being dominated in its final Olympics international on Sunday morning.
Australia was beaten 2-1 by Canada in Spain just days before the team travels to France ahead of their Olympics campaign opener against Germany on July 25.
Canada controlled the match, but their only goals came from defensive blunders by the Aussie defence.
The biggest worry for Gustavsson will be the lack of fluidity in attack with Australia managing just one shot on target across the 90 minutes.
Australia struck first on the back of some Mary Fowler magic when she danced through the middle before finding Sharn Frier, who scored the goal in her first starting role for the Matildas.
Freir had been called up at the last minute when Caitlin Foord went down with an injury concern during the warm up.
The Matildas have been injury ravaged throughout the year and the sight of Foord with icing on her leg was a horror thought for Aussie fans.
Having already announced last week that captain Steph Catley and Kaitlyn Torpey would miss the game against the Canadians due to lower leg injuries, the Matildas suffered another blow pre-match when Arsenal star Foord withdrew after experiencing tightness in her quad.
The ugliest take away from the match was that Canada could easily have scored more based on the possession they had in Australia’s defensive final third.
They finished with 19 shots on goal and six corners.
Despite this, the reigning Olympic gold medallists needed Australian mistakes to get on the scoreboard.
After Freir’s goal in the 23rd minute, Canada equalised when goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold fumbled a tricky cross in the 40th minute. Arnold’s mistake saw the ball bounce right into the path of Canada’s Nichelle Prince, who tapped it into the net.
Canada got the match-winner in the 85th minute when it was another costly defensive error that allowed Evelyn Viens to score.
Arnold did not look happy after her teammates lost possession inside the penalty area and left her stranded. She let them know about it with a wave of her arms.
It was a hard slog for the Matildas after a week of a full training load.
Gustavsson has made no secret of his plans to push his side to the limits this week to prepare them for the intensity of the Olympics where the team will play three matches in seven days during the group stage.
Matildas star Gorry said there were “a lot of good things” to take away from how the team performed with fatigued bodies.
“We came out tonight for a test. It showed tonight we had a bit of heavy legs going into the game. For us it’s about peaking against Germany, not tonight. So we’ll take a few things away from the game,” Gorry said.
“We were able to play under fatigue. It’s been a heavy week. A pretty intense week for us.”
Gustavsson said after the match his side learned a lot while playing with such weary bodies.
“We are a team known for being very, very aggressive, high octane energy team. A lot of runs in attack. A transition game. Sometimes in fatigue is difficult to play that way,” he said.
“So we want to train ourselves physically and mentally and tactically to play with fatigue. That was one thing we got. Another one was a lot of player answers. We got to test a lot of things today.”
He highlighted Clare Wheeler’s “phenomenal” performance where she played in defence and the midfield.
Despite this, there were also alarming sights for Gustavsson’s team.
Socceroos great Andy Harper said on Paramount Plus there was a “chasm” between the Matildas and Canada.
“A lot of people watching that this morning would have been a little bit surprised just at how sluggish some of the connections were or the lack of connection there was or how dominant Canada was,” he said.
“Today there was a big chasm between the teams.”
Gustavsson was also more concerned with Australia’s lack of creativity in attack.
“I don’t think we created enough. We normally create a lot of chances when we play,” Gustavsson said.
“I want to create more. I want to attack.”
The Matildas are the walking wounded just 12 days out from the start of their Olympics campaign and Gustavsson is likely facing the prospect of needing to use alternate squad members to replace some injured players.
Matildas schedule at the Olympic Games (all times AEST)
Australia vs Germany
Friday, July 26, 3am. Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France
Australia vs Zambia
Monday, July 29, 3am. Stade de Nice, Nice, France
Australia vs United States
Thursday, August 1, 3am. Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France
Originally published as ‘Chasm’: Alarm bells ringing for Matildas before Olympics
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