FIFA Women’s World Cup: Adam Peacock’s analysis of Matildas 1-0 victory over France
Watch out world. The Matildas mean business and are ready to take their attack to football’s stage. ADAM PEACOCK reflects on the 1-0 win over France and names the Australian flyer who can take the tournament by storm.
Hype and hope were already at unprecedented levels so why not go up a notch.
Yes, deep breath, the Matildas chances of winning a World Cup improved on Friday night with a 1-0 win over France. Not just the result, but the manner.
Endorphins can’t help themselves when you see Caitlin Foord skate around the world’s best defender. You can’t help but watch Cortnee Vine sprint past her opponent like she’s running in wet concrete. You can’t help but get excited when Sam Kerr goes anywhere near the ball.
The performance wasn’t perfect. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold won’t be a spare part during the tournament.
The Matildas are that type of side. They allow chances. And create them. The latter was more evident after the final game before the World Cup.
Holy moly Caitlin Foord 🔥
— Adam Peacock (@adampeacock3) July 14, 2023
*****
Pace is everything to the Matildas attacking game.
The first half proved it.
Although France created the better shooting chances in the first half, the Matildas got into dangerous positions at will, through a variety of avenues. Cortnee Vine rinsed her direct opponent, Maelle Lakrar more than once, Ellie Carpenter surged forward with intent from her right back positions, while of course, Sam Kerr used her ever-improving nous to either run behind or drop into midfield to cause issues.
The standout, though, was Caitlin Foord, who looks set to have a World Cup to remember for eternity.
It wasn’t just Foord’s physical pace that made it a thoroughly unenjoyable Bastille Day for French defenders, but sharpness between the ears. With the ball at her feet, when taking players on, she is one step ahead.
For the first hour, all that was missing for the Matildas was the final ball.
Although France had twice as many shots in that period, the Matildas got the ball into the 18-yard box more times. The concept of football is to shoot and score, but as far as problems go, it’s nearly the best one to have.
And there were glimmers the twin-sister-like understanding between Foord and Kerr will bear fruit, with their last action before being substituted on 60 minutes seeing Kerr take off, by herself over halfway, only to flip a blind 30 yard pass to Foord.
Happily, the Matildas need not rely on Foord or Kerr for what turned out to be the winner. Hayley Raso zipped down the right to cross to Mary Fowler, introduced at halftime, and queen of calm, who speaks with the tone of a worldly university lecturer despite just 20 years on earth, cooly found the back of the net.
A constant World Cup worry for the Matildas, especially in the blockbuster group game against Canada (third game of the tournament) and then, presumably, the knockout stages, will be mixing the excitement of going forward with sensibilities.
Like a jumping castle at a 10th birthday party, it’s all fun until too many people want to get involved. The Matildas got exposed more than once in losing possession and putting the first-time centre back partnership Alanna Kennedy and Clare Hunt into the fire.
Without the omnipresent Clare Polkinghorne, given more time to overcome recent foot problems, Kennedy made her return to the Australian line up for the first time in nine months.
Testament to her preparation, Kennedy looked more like the 109-cap veteran filled with certainty, rather than an unsure returning player involved in just her third game of football in 2023.
Next to her, Clare Hunt from Grenfell, who has dropped out of the sky this year, or rather avoided the physio bench she’s spent four years on. Hunt is old school. Not the finished product with the ball, her value is in the ability in an emergency. The way she ran down Grace Geyoro, a beautifully balanced player tipped to have a breakout World Cup, averting a certain shot on goal was the work of a 100-cap veteran, not someone playing their sixth international.
The duo also limited the exquisite skill of eight-time Champions League winner Eugenie Le Sommer.
Big things are expected of Le Sommer and France over the next month. They’d found happiness under new coach Herve Renard, the man who inspired Saudi Arabia to beat Leo Messi’s Argentina in the opening game of the 2022 Men’s World Cup.
They still have much to be hopeful about, chasing a first title at a major tournament.
Aside from a worrying late withdrawal of substitute Tameka Yallop, with a possible recurrence of an ankle injury, it was a better night for the Matildas.
*****
Next Thursday night’s World Cup opener against Ireland in Sydney will be something else, because the Matildas will face an opponent in Ireland they are expected to be too good for.
83,000 people will pack the stands with more vigour and tension than the Marvel experience, where 50,000 filed in for an atmosphere tantamount to a school fete. Excited kids, and parents smiling at their enjoyment.
It was sometimes jarring to regular football attendees of matches in Melbourne, for Victorian police were spotted high fiving fans, asking for opinion on who would score first.
Vengaboys bounced off the closed roof pre-kick off. Young girls filled the seats, mostly with “Kerr 20” on their backs.
And it’s those souls who provide the big point of difference.
Sure, everyone wants the Matildas to succeed. But will a round of sixteen exit see those same girls in tears, burning their Kerr jerseys, and pretending this whole forthcoming experience never happened? No chance.
And anyway, the World Cup is an event that doesn’t need perfection as we know it.
It’s about expression, a celebration, a dance if you feel like it vibe.
The Matildas are a team to reset the norm in Australian sport, so why not just go with it.
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