Uncomfortable Matildas truth nobody ever wants to admit

The Matildas Olympic campaign came crashing down and while the support came flooding in, it exposed a damning reality for the team.

The Matildas Olympic campaign officially came to an end on Thursday following their second loss in the group stage.

A draw against the USA would have been enough to secure passage into the knockout stages, but it wasn’t to be as Tony Gustavsson’s troops fell short in a dramatic 2-1 loss.

The elimination is the earliest for the Matildas since they made their debut way back in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics.

While the Matildas captured the hearts of the nation during their fourth placed finish at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the latest result shows we’re simply not on the level of the top tier nations.

It’s an uncomfortable truth and one that won’t go down well, but it’s hard to argue when you look at how things unfolded in Paris.

The uncomfortable Matildas truth nobody wants to talk about. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Socceroos great Craig Foster said in the aftermatch of the match the campaing showed the Matildas have “some way to go”.

“Of course they are there to try and get through and get a medal and we’re very sad that they didn’t, but what the game needs to do is always keep an eye on the way they’re playing,” Foster said on Stan Sport.

“And the level at which they are playing at against the best teams in the world, now the beautiful thing about these Olympic Games is that we played against two very top teams and they showed us that we’ve still got some way to go.

“That’s the most important lesson for us from here.”

Matildas players in the lead up to the Games spoke openly about their aspirations of securing their first ever Olympic medal.

And while aiming high will never be frowned upon, the reality is any form of major tournament hardware looks a long way off for them.

It wasn’t a pretty campaign for the Matildas. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Defensively the Matildas resembled a piece of Swiss cheese as Germany, Zambia and the USA feasted against them.

Only the 64th ranked Zambia conceded more goals than the Matildas with the 12th ranked Aussies letting the underdog African nation slot five goals past them.

In the end the Aussies conceded 10 goals and finished the Olympics with a -3 goal difference, Brazil who claimed the final slot into the knockout stages had a -2 difference.

While Sam Kerr was watching on from the sidelines. the other question the Matildas must face is where are the next group of stars to take team forward?

By the time the 2027 FIFA World Cup rolls around a host of our current team will be on the other side of 30-years-old.

Caitlin Foord will be 32 as will Hayley Raso and Alanna Kennedy.

Sam Kerr, Steph Catley and Mackenzie Arnold will all be 33 while Katrina Gorry and Emily van Egmond will be 34.

We should also mention that Michelle Heyman will be 39 by the time the World Cup rolls around.

Heyman was arguably Australia’s most influential player in attack throughout the Olympics.

The Matildas came crashing down. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Speaking of Kerr, tensions between Australia’s best player and the group seem to be at odds with reports the skipper’s “relationship with Football Australia is at an all-time low”.

The absence of Kerr was keenly felt by the playing group throughout the Olympic campaign, while the absence of any support from the 30-year-old was evident for all to see.

Kerr posted routinely throughout the opening days of the Olympics on her Instagram stories, but not once was there a post of support for the Matildas.

So while things on the field fell apart in Paris for the Aussies, it appears away from it there may be bigger hurdles to overcome.

Originally published as Uncomfortable Matildas truth nobody ever wants to admit