The Matildas have suffered a brutal reality check in their bid for a first-ever Olympics medal, slumping to a 3-0 defeat to heavyweights Germany in the opening match of their Olympics campaign.
World number four Germany, a team the Matildas have only beaten once in five previous meetings, entered the tournament in far stronger form than the Australians. And the 2016 Olympic gold medallists (and three-time bronze medallists) sent a statement to their competition rivals with an assured performance where only some misfiring shooting and desperate defending prevented the scoreline from fully reflecting Germany’s dominance.
Germany’s first two goals came from headers scored off corners – one in each half – where Australia’s defence was badly exposed, before the exceptional Julie Brand earned a deserved goal with a tap-in that capped a superb counter-attack.
While the Matildas will still fancy their chances of progressing to the knockout stages – they face global giants USA and dangerous Zambia in their remaining two matches, with one win potentially still enough to advance – the manner of the defeat will send alarm bells ringing for coach Tony Gustavsson.
Even in a tournament where the likes of England and last year’s World Cup third-place finishers Sweden failed to qualify, the Matildas must improve – and quickly – if they are to revive their medal dream.
Australia was outplayed across the park, with the attack struggling for fluency and nullified by a physical and well-disciplined German defence. Mary Fowler’s creative influence was stifled – particularly in the first half – while Australia, as they did in the recent warm-up defeat to Canada, largely failed to create strong chances. The Australian pressing defence similarly struggled to disrupt a composed German attack which dominated possession and created chances with regularity.
Things looked promising in the opening minutes for the Australians, who are chasing a first-ever Olympic medal, with the Matildas enjoying back-to-back corners in the tenth minute.
But the second one was caught by Germany keeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who quickly launched it to fleet-footed 21-year-old starlet Jule Brand.
Brand raced up the other end of the field, bumping off Katrina Gorry and turning Ellie Carpenter, only to miscue her shot horribly over the bar.
Five minutes later, Australia had another scare when a German cross was headed then flicked back across goal, only for some desperate defending from captain Steph Catley and Cortnee Vine to snuff out the chance.
The Matildas managed to string together some nice passing moves at times, but Germany dominated possession and increasingly looked in control of the contest.
Veteran attacker Caitlin Foord received a yellow card for a nasty tackle – and was perhaps lucky to avoid a send-off — before Germany’s dominance paid off in the 24th minute with a deserved goal.
A pinpoint corner from Guilia Gwinn found Marina Hegering at the back post, the towering German defender poorly marked by Carpenter and out-leaping centre-back Alanna Kennedy to power the header home.
Mary Fowler nearly conjured an immediate response, but she couldn’t conjure space in the box despite twisting and turning in a desperate bid to escape close attention from the defence.
Brand continued to give the Australian defence nightmares with her pace and dribbling, with a slaloming counter-attack in the 30th minute seeing her weave through a trio of defenders before passing to Klara Buehl on the edge of the box, but her shot was blazed over the bar.
As Australia pushed for an equaliser in the latter stages of the half, Germany began to find more and more space.
Australia’s chances were few and far between. Foord raced down the right flank and – with no teammates in support – launched a highly improbable long-range strike from a narrow angle.
Australia started the second half positively, with Catley charging down the sideline before finding Fowler on the edge of the area, though her shot was blocked by a wall of three German bodies. And Brand – outstanding in the first half – was soon back to tormenting the defence, unleashing a pair of vicious strikes from range in quick succession that both narrowly missed.
The Matildas continued to struggle to maintain possession, with central defender Clare Hunt dispossessed in a dangerous position by Brand.
Brand surged into the area before unselfishly squaring it to Lea Schueller, who had a golden opportunity yet lashed her shot only into the midriff of Alanna Kennedy – the Aussie defender preventing what seemed a certain goal.
But Schueller made amends for that miss when she thundered home a powerful header when left unmarked at a Germany corner in the 64th minute. It was her 43rd international goal in just 63 appearances.
The Matildas had a couple of half-chances – a long-range Fowler strike before that goal, and a couple of strong runs into the German area that were well Catley run into the box before being well tackled soon after the strike.
Yet any hopes of an unlikely counter-attack were killed off by a well-worked team goal in transition from Germany four minutes later. Germany exchanged passes down the left side – with Australia’s defence in disarray – before left-back Sarai Linder squared it for Brand to tap home the simplest of finishes inside the six-yard box.
The ball went into the back of the Matildas defence another four minutes later – once again off a corner – but this time Australia was spared a goal when the assistant referee belatedly raised the flag for offside when the ball was crossed back into the area from the back post.
Coach Tony Gustavsson had done his best to shuffle the pieces and spark a counterattack. Sharn Freier replaced Cortnee Vine in the 59th minute, while Clare Wheeler replaced central midfielder Katrina Gorry.
Once Australia went three goals down, Gustavsson turned to his bench again, with Michelle Heyman replacing Caitlin Foord at striker, Emily Van Egmond replacing winger Hayley Raso and Kaitlyn Torpey taking over from captain Steph Catley.
Australia became increasingly desperate for a goal that could prove crucial in escaping the group – since the Matildas must either finish in the top two of the four-team Group B, or be one of the two top third-place teams from across all groups.
Yet Germany continued to create the better chances and came within inches of adding a fourth late in the piece when a stellar cross curled just out of reach of a lunging striker just a couple of metres from goal.
The Matildas were forced into a late change ahead of the match, with veteran Tameka Yallop ruled out.
33-year-old Yallop was one of a host of Australians who entered the Olympics under an injury cloud, alongside skipper Steph Catley and star attacker Caitlin Foord as well as goalkeeper Teagan Micah.
The quartet all trained the day before the match, but Yallop pulled up sore and was forced out of the match against the 2016 gold medallists and the world’s fourth-ranked side, as she continues to recover from a pair of minor impact injuries at training earlier this month.
Fortunately, a late change to the Olympic rules means that Yallop could be replaced by one of Australia’s four reserve athletes – with the Matildas selecting Yallop’s Brisbane Roar teammate Sharn Freier as her replacement for this match.
Under previous rules, a player had to be ruled out of the entire tournament in order for a reserve player to be called up, but a last-minute change means an injured player can be replaced for just one game and can subsequently return to the team.
Fox Sports News’ Luke Doherty said: “We saw her at training yesterday look a little bit proppy in the warm-up. She did take part in the full session. She has been ruled out with what the Matildas and the ACO are calling a mild contact injury.”
Sharn Freier, who turned 23 yesterday, has burst into the Matildas scene in recent months. She debuted in April against Mexico and also impressed in the recent friendly against Canada.
Source Agencies
