Adam Peacock: Mighty Matildas don’t know what they’ve done with World Cup-saving win

The Matildas are on the brink of delivering monumental benefits to Australian football after romping into the World Cup knockout rounds. Consider the alternative, writes ADAM PEACOCK.

MELBOURNE, JULY 31, 2023: 2023 Fifa Womens World Cup - Australia V Canada. Steph Catley of the Matildas celebrates a goal during the match at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. Picture: Mark Stewart

Hayley Raso cradled her player of the match trophy. Sam Kerr, in a puffer jacket that stayed on all night, screamed delight at Caitlin Foord who was trying to stay cool in a TV interview.

And one by one, the Matildas filtered back to their dressing room, past a giant sign just inside the door reading, “Til it’s Done”; back into their bubble that, remarkably, was impregnable to the worry and angst which symbolised the lead-up to their final World Cup group match.

The Matildas are fully aware they won an important game of football.

But they don’t know what they’ve done.

Consider the alternative. Canada wins and Australia is out.

Before dawn on Tuesday, Tony Gustavsson is sent to the gallows to await trial. A royal commission is established to work out how the best player pinged a calf the day before the opening game.

The World Cup goes before full houses but once the FIFA caravan moves out on August 21, what’s left?

Ho hum, football continues to be a poor cousin in this corner of the planet.

The Matildas have captured the hearts of fans everywhere. Picture: Ian Currie

Sure, the Matildas would still be loved. No 12-year-olds would have been burning Sam Kerr jerseys on Swan St, yet the game would have missed an opportunity like never before.

Instead, a perfect night on the pitch – big win, topping the group thanks to a Nigeria-Ireland draw, Sam Kerr not needed – is matched by the flow-on over the next week.

Football Australia is free of regret, for a week at least. Their own TV rights are up. Good time to talk about those.

Existing sponsors are pleased to get in when they did, while others knock at the door. Matildas merch flies off shelves, most of it official. For some reason, Australia doesn’t do counterfeit gear, so the game gets a wedge, helping to enact the legacy plan of more facilities.

FIFA is impressed. After his quick tour of the Pacific Islands to meet and greet and shore up votes, Australia-Canada was president Gianni Infantino’s first game of the World Cup. Beat that for a first impression. Melbourne’s 30,000 fans sounded like 300,000.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino watched his first game when Canada took on Australia. Picture: William West/AFP

TV ratings are up in the stratosphere, sure to continue rising next week for the round of 16 game, at 8.30pm on a Monday night. No other sport up against it. No other reason to miss it.

The PM hinted at a public holiday if the Matildas win the World Cup. The least his education minister can do is to declare Tuesday a pupil free morning. School starts at recess with a game of football in the quadrangle.

Before then, kids this weekend will hit suburban grounds, some in Mary Fowler gloves, some with Hayley Raso ribbons, others dancing with the ball at their feet like Caitlin Foord or Kyra Cooney-Cross.

From the 23 players in camp, to the small children playing at 8am on Saturday on a bellyful of red frogs and excitement, everyone is feeling good about themselves.

There is more, though, than vibes to carry into the knockout stages.

Big teams with big reputations await, none of whom strike immense fear into the Matildas; purely down to the style that worked so well against Canada.

The Matildas are now four wins from four against top 10 opponents in 2023. The wins over Spain, England, France and Canada, carry one similar trait: in all four, the opposition dominated possession.

The Matildas have been fighting against the odds.

Nigeria and Ireland were nervy nights on many fronts. The occasion played a part but so did an opponent who tightened their defensive block, slanted to either tactical planning (Ireland) or pure athleticism (Nigeria), and put the Matildas off their game. Gustavsson’s planning was then exposed and everything became a worry.

Yet not against Canada, or those other big wins in 2023, in which the Matildas morphed comfortably into the queens of transition, laid bare by Monday night’s first goal against the Olympic champions.

In less than 10 seconds, the ball went from goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, through Foord and Steph Catley, to the feet of Raso.

Coupled with the midfield defensive bite of Katrina Gorry and Cooney-Cross, in her best performance in a Matildas shirt, Canada never really settled into a rhythm.

Should England be the round of 16 opponent, they will dominate possession. Should it be Denmark, it will be more even.

Regardless, back in that bubble, the Matildas will fear nothing.

Not even fear itself, after a night no one will ever forget.

Originally published as Adam Peacock: Mighty Matildas don’t know what they’ve done with World Cup-saving win