Women’s World Cup: Matildas ran a beautiful campaign and their fourth place against strong opposition is fair
The bitter bronze playoff was won by Sweden 2-0. Matildas captain Sam Kerr reeled from a fearsome tackle and limped off. Not the World Cup finale she wanted.
This started as a beautiful occasion. A thank you and a massive thumbs-up from the masses to the Matildas. A thank you and a massive thumbs-up from the Matildas right back to the masses. A playoff for third. A love-in for the hosts.
The Welcome to Country was beautiful. The national anthem was beautiful. The whole thing was beautiful …
And then it turned rather nasty. Sweden won a bitter contest 2-0. Matildas captain Sam Kerr reeled from a fearsome tackle and limped off in the second half. Not the World Cup finale she wanted.
What an emotionally and physically tough tournament for her. She was on the sideline for less than a minute before insisting on returning to the fray. Katrina Gorry was involved in push-and-shove before the niggle moved to all-out physicality.
Caitlin Foord had a brutal head clash that kept her on the canvas. Sweden’s captain Kosovare Asllani took even longer to recover. They lay on the turf like it was an NRL collision.
The Matildas wore teal as the Swedes wore yellow – very hospitable of us – but unlike so many independents at the federal election, these teals didn’t have a win.
I was wrong about the Matildas’ level of commitment. I thought they might be too crestfallen to seriously compete after the semi-final loss to England. They looked so devastated in Sydney I thought they might be curled in a collective foetal position for the foreseeable future. Far from it.
They desperately wanted to be in Sunday night’s World Cup final against Spain in Sydney but even relegated to this slightly off-Broadway fixture in Brisbane, they played their hearts out. It was on like Donkey Kong. Bravo, even if the result was a bummer.
The Matildas have a genuinely great culture. Every game matters to them. Every appearance is a chance to put pride in their Australian shirt and the Australian people. That’s their gift. The reason for their astonishing popularity.
They make you proud to be Australian, right? Because of how they play and why they play. To enjoy the game and promote the game. They’re athletic and authentic. They’re a football team … but there’s a lot of those. They’re a sporting team … there’s a lot of those, too. This team is Australia’s team. Roll on the Paris Olympics.
Sweden received a dubious first-half penalty decision when Matildas defender Clare Hunt was ruled to have intentionally tripped Stina Blackstenius.
Replays showed Hunt losing her footing and accidentally bringing down the Swede – but contact was made and a 50/50 penalty call went the way of the visitors. Fridolina Rolfo beat Matildas goalkeeper MacKenzie Arnold with a low, hooking left foot shot as Suncorp Stadium booed like Queensland was getting a raw deal in State of Origin.
One-nil to Sweden. They had the better of the rugged first half. Even if they mightn’t have deserved the penalty, the lead was warranted. They were dominating the midfield.
Gorry received a yellow card; Foord and Gorry seemed especially intent on leaving their marks. Kerr launched into one powerful shot at goal and put some serious boot on the ball. Sweden’s Zecira Musovic parried it away. Foord played the second half with a bandage wrapped around her forehead.
Asllani, the tremendous Swedish captain, found the net in the 62nd minute and that was all she wrote. The thank-you and thumbs-up exchange between the Matildas and the masses was genuine but the comprehensive defeat was a deflating finale.
Kerr’s arms went up in frustration a few times, when she didn’t receive the deliveries she was screaming for. When the scoreboard became heavy, so did the Matildas’ legs. As usually happens in third-place playoffs. When you start losing this one, you remember the loss that put you here in the first place.
So in the end, they had four wins and three losses to finish fourth at the World Cup. Two defeats in the final four days were tough to swallow and yet highlights were plentiful and unforgettable.
It’s a tournament and team that will stand the test of time. The Canada game was a ripper. The marathon penalty shootout against France was a ripper and beyond. Kerr’s goal in Sydney was as great and thrilling as any you’ll see at any World Cup. More than your regulation strike. A lightning strike. What a superstar.
What a shame for the tournament, for Australians, for the Matildas and for the two-billion strong global TV audience that we didn’t see more of her. And what a bemusing fact this is: the two games Kerr did play from the start, Australia lost. Proving the quality of opposition.
A beautiful team launched a beautiful World Cup campaign but in the end, they were comfortably beaten by England and Sweden. Fourth? A fair result.
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