Heyman goal seals late draw as Gustavsson questions Foord call
Tony Gustavsson is questioning his decision to play Caitlin Foord in the Matildas’ 1-1 draw with China after the Arsenal star suffered a hamstring injury.
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Tony Gustavsson is questioning his decision to play Caitlin Foord in the Matildas’ 1-1 draw with China after the Arsenal star suffered a hamstring injury.
Foord ‘felt something’ in her hamstring during the clash with China and coach Gustavsson says he is questioning whether he should have played the match weary striker in Adelaide.
Foord, already a lock in the Olympics team, has had a busy week, finishing in the WSL then flying to Australia to play for Arsenal against the A-Leagues All Stars last Friday in Melbourne.
She went down late in the second half, not long after coming on at the hour mark.
In a good sign she walked off the field but coach Gustavsson isn’t convinced Foord will play in Sydney on Monday night.
I’m a bit concerned as well,” Gustavsson said.
“And I’m looking at myself a little bit here as well because some of the players like I said came in very tired, both mentally and physically and had a couple of niggles.
“(Foord) hasn’t been trained fully until yesterday. We’ve always had long meetings my team and look at recommending minutes or can we protect players.
“Sometimes it’s easier to say as a coach like that is like should I really have used them today or should I let her rest like that that’s you know, as a coach, I always think that way.
“She felt something, if it had been a World Cup game I think she would have tried to play on but at this point there’s no way that I take that risk.
“Hopefully it’s not too serious but I can say now that if it’s the slightest risk, there’s no way I’m going to play a player like that in the second game because it’s all about getting out of this camp with us now and preparing for the Olympics as well.”
HEYMAN THE HERO
Matildas’ veteran Michelle Heyman scored a late show equaliser in a 1-1 draw with China in front of a record women’s football crowd at Adelaide Oval last night.
Heyman, 35, volleyed the ball home from point-blank range in the fifth minute of stoppage time after a howler from Chinese keeper Xu Huan forced a free kick on the edge of the box seconds before the final whistle.
Mary Fowler’s set piece ricocheted across the six-yard box before Heyman scored as the Matildas skyrocketed to become Australia’s favourite football team when 52,912 screaming fans turned up to watch a disjointed performance.
“We wanted to continue to have the never-say-die attitude,” Heyman told Paramount +.
“We needed to move the ball a bit quicker, it wasn’t our best performance.”
The reigning women’s AFC Asian Cup champion stunned the Matildas when the clash was 30 minutes old.
Zhang Linyan scored the opening goal with a neat volley from 6m from a brilliant Wurigumula assist from the wing after a battle for the ball with Australia’s Kaitlyn Torpey.
The goal deflated the Adelaide Oval vibe as the Chinese took its 1-0 advantage to the break after Australia’s formation continuously changed, which appeared to unsettle the home side.
China was the better side for the first 45 minutes and opened the second half super organised.
However, Matildas’ rising star Fowler, who started the clash on the left wing before shifting to midfield, had a super chance to equalise in the 56th minute but was thwarted by the brave gloves of Huan on the edge of the six-yard box.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson unleashed five trusted stars off the bench in one hit after the hour in a bid to salvage the clash with Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Ellie Carpenter and Kyra Cooney Cross adding speed, aggression and urgency to the line-up.
Raso had a claim for a spot kick in the 73rd minute after her heels appeared to be clipped inside the box, but referee Yujeong Kim wasn’t fazed by the Australian’s protest.
Records broken
The crowd almost eclipsed the 53,008 fans that saw Adelaide United’s men host English giant Liverpool in a 2015 friendly at the same venue.
Nearly 18 years ago, the Matildas faced China in the final of the AFC Asian Cup and drew an estimated 5000 fans to Hindmarsh Stadium which was lauded as a big crowd - at that time.
In 2019 a then-record crowd for a women’s football clash in SA saw 10,342 fans watch the Matildas beat Chile 1-0 at Hindmarsh.
Parisian days
With just 18 spots up for grabs for the Matildas’ Paris 2024 Games football squad, Gustavsson may need to look at his game plan before deciding who he should cut from this current squad of 23 players.
South Australia’s Charli Grant earned a start to prove her worth as Tuesday’s Olympic 18-person Olympic squad announcement nears.
With brilliant defender Carpenter starting from the bench after she played in last weekend’s UEFA Champions League final for French side Lyon, Grant performed admirably after making her debut for England’s Tottenham Hotspur this year but was forced to watch her teammate Linyan’s opening goal.
Grant ended her shift in the 62nd minute for Carpenter.
Ante’s Antics
Former Matildas boss Ante Milicic seemingly opted for a cautious approach early in his debut match on the bench for China.
His side initially refused to press as the Matildas continuously opted to work the ball from defence to attack that left the door open for counter-attacking football.
After the home side was lulled into that game plan, China forced a high press after 15 minutes which forced the Matildas to rethink Gustavsson’s strategy after Linyan scored on the half hour.
Til it’s done farewell series
Australia 1 (Michelle Heyman 95m) China (Zhang Linyan 30m) 1 at Adelaide Oval – Referee: Kim Yujeong (KOR) - Crowd: 52,912.
HOW IT UNFOLDED
90+5’ - GOAL, FULLTIME
Michelle Heyman has saved the day for the Matildas, scoring her fifth goal in four games since her international return to level the score just five seconds before time.
A Mary Fowler free kick just outside the box allowed the home side an unlikely opportunity to equalise at the death, and it proved too hot to handle.
The ball ricocheted, and Heyman was the woman on the spot to put the ball in the back of the net and save the day for an otherwise underwhelming Matildas.
5’ TO GO: China is hanging on to a slender 1-0 lead as the clunky Matildas’ attack struggles to create clear goalscoring opportunities.
There’s been a few half-chances, the most notable being Michelle Heyman’s decision to place a through ball for Hayley Raso rather than fire herself, but they’ve either been stopped, blocked, or off-target.
China hasn’t fired too many questions with the ball at their feet but they’ve protected their advantage well.
75’: Caitlin Foord has sent a scare through the Matildas camp after leaving tghe field with what appears to be a hamstring injury.
Australia has dominated possession and field territory through this second half as they search for an equaliser, but they remain empty-handed as China hang on to a 1-0 lead.
Foord’s departure allowed Sharn Freier to make her second appearance for the Matildas.
60’: The break couldn’t have come a better time for the Matildas who have shown more of what we’re used to seeing from this team.
They have been more dangerous and incisive in possession, and we’ve seen more of the Matildas in attacking play.
But that elusive goal has not come to fruition yet, and it’s forced the gaffer into a quintuple change on the hour.
62' | Changes coming, quintuple sub! 5ï¸âƒ£
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) May 31, 2024
â¬‡ï¸ @Kaitlyn_torpey, Clare Wheeler, @_charli_grant, @tameka_yallop, @cortneev9
â¬†ï¸ @CarpenterEllie, @HayleyRaso, @kyracooneyx, @stephcatley, @CaitlinFoord
🇦🇺 0-1 🇨🇳 #AUSvCHN#Matildas#TilitsDone
They’ve made an immediate impact, and it sets up an exciting final half hour.
HALFTIME - CHINA 1 MATILDAS 0
It’s not the result the sold-out Adelaide Oval would prefer with a Zhang Linyan goal putting the visitors up at the break.
The Matildas have lacked much of the killer punch and fluency swathes of supporters saw at the historic World Cup last year, as players audition for a spot in the team for the upcoming Olympics.
Cortnee Vine has put in a few decent attacking runs as she fights for one of four places still up for grabs in Tony Gustavsson’s side for Paris.
But the opportunities have been few and far between, with China, the Women’s Asian Cup champions, looking more dangerous with the ball and getting into the attacking third with ease.
29’ - GOAL
The Matildas’ defence has been exposed after a neat finish by Zhang Linyan opened the scoring for China.
The visitors had threatened throughout the first half hour but weren’t able to get a decent shot away.
But it was classy finish by Zhang, who put the finishing touch on a superb oass into the box by Wurigumula, who plays for Central Coast Mariners in the A-Leagues Women.
15’: China has looked threatening on the break as they punched holes in the Matildas’ defence, but have lacked the polish to make the most of the chances.
The Matildas’ defenders have been drawn into a fair bit of work and they’ve proved up to the challenge so far.
5’: China has put the Matildas under pressure early in front of a sold-out Adelaide Oval.
Australia’s been happy to play it out of the back, and China’s forwards have pressed to force a mistake.
The Matildas went down their attacking third only once with a misguided cross sailing safely out of bounds.
PRE-MATCH
The teams are in the tunnel and ready to take the field at Adelaide Oval.
Adelaide hero Charli Grant will be part of the Matildas starting 11 as coach Tony Gustavsson opts to start most the stars on the bench.
Grant will start in place of Ellie Carpenter - who arrived into camp late after playing for Lyon in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final on Sunday morning.
Going into the match Gustavsson said just four spots were undecided in his 18-woman Olympic squad.
His starting team boasts many of the players fighting for those spots including Clare Wheeler, Grant, Kaitlyn Torpey, Michelle Heyman and Tameka Yallop.
While Courtney Nevin, Sharn Freier and Winoah Heatley will hope to get a run off the bench and show Gustavsson what they can do.
Starting team
GK: Mackenzie Arnold
Defenders: Charli Grant, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Kaitlyn Torpey
Midfielders: Cortnee Vine, Clare Wheeler, Mary Fowler, Tameka Yallop
Forwards: Emily van Egmond, Michelle Heyman
Join us here on Friday night for instant reactions to the first game of the ‘Til it’s Done Farewell Series against the defending Women’s Asian Cup champions.
Kick-off: 7.40pm ACST | 8.10pm AEST | 6.10pm AWST
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