Matildas vow to refocus for World Cup opener against Italy
Sam Kerr concedes the Matildas have much work to do after the Netherlands delivered a wake-up call before the World Cup.
Sam Kerr says the Matildas have much work to do after the Netherlands delivered a wake-up call a week before their World Cup opener.
Australia’s tournament expectations took a cold shower in Eindhoven, where Ante Milicic’s side were soundly defeated 3-0 by the European champions.
Dutch attacking trio Lieke Martens, Vivianne Miedema and Shanice van de Sanden turned it on for the 30,000-strong home crowd, van de Sanden scoring twice and Miedema netting the other. The visitors left the Philips Stadion with a reality check about their cup ambitions.
It wasn’t all bad though, and a bright start might have yielded a first-half goal had the Netherlands not beaten them to it after Kerr’s self-described “dumb” challenge coughed up a free kick just before the break.
But the Matildas’ defensive fallibility remains a concern in a group that features arch-rivals Brazil and, first up, the improving Italy.
The Matildas have conceded eight goals in their past two matches, having shipped five to world champions USA in April.
Time is now of the essence, and there’s not much left.
“We’re not gonna dwell on this loss,” Kerr said.
“They’re a good team so it was a wake-up call and we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’d rather have our bad games now than in a week’s time.
“They’re a European team. We’re going to come up against Italy in the first game so it was a good test. We’ll be ready for it in game one.
“That’s what the crowds are going to be like in France and I think we let it get the better of us but I’m really proud of the girls.
“As we got back in to the change room it wasn’t like anyone was turning on each other. It was straight back into focus on tomorrow.”
Teen defender Ellie Carpenter had the task of marking Martens, the Barcelona star named 2017 FIFA player of the year.
At 19, Carpenter has already been pitted against some of the world’s best, including Brazilian icon Marta and the United States’ Megan Rapinoe.
She had her hands full again against Martens, who caught her out a couple of times but was also challenged herself by the Cowra-born teenager.
Carpenter said: “She’s a world-class striker.
“I always love defending against strikers like that. I think it was a good game and a good battle between us.
“She got some crosses in and I got past her a few times.”
Milicic was due to give his sidelined players minutes in a second friendly behind closed doors with the Dutch reserves yesterday.
The squad will then have two days off before travelling to the northern French city of Valenciennes ahead of June 9’s opener with Italy.
Milicic’s mind will be on how to tie up loose ends on the field without overloading his players with information.
Tameka Yallop, for one, felt the result had no impact on Australia’s expectations in France, to go at least one step further than their quarter-final run of 2015.
“No, definitely not,” Yallop said.
“The things we can tidy up are quite simple, whether it’s lack of concentration or not giving away a foul in the first place.
“I don’t think there’s anything too major that shocked us in that game and we’ll stick to our guns moving forward.”
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