The peak period
Let’s call it thebacks-against-the-wall period. Australia’s national teams seem to love nothing more than getting results the hard way. And just when they were on the brink,theybit back against Canada in sensational style. Think we’re struggling with Kerr? Here,Olympic gold medallists,have four goals in your net.Hayley Raso scored a brace before Fowler and Steph Catley closed out the game in front of a raucous full house at AAMI Park.
The match starts the Matildas mania that only grew over the coming days. Because if the Canada game was climbing off the canvas,the 2-0 round of 16defeat of Denmark in Sydney was professional.Fowler’s pass a thing of beauty and Kerr made her long-awaited return off the bench.
Hayley Raso celebrates after scoring Australia’s second goal against Canada.Credit:AP
By this point,theGrim Reaper had already come for a few tournament favourites and the draw was starting to open up nicely for the Matildas,who had already avoided England in the round of 16 and could now look forward to facing a team they hadbettered in a friendly only the month before.
It’s Arnold time (and Vine time)
And,let’s face it,Kerr time. The skipper played 65 minutes in the quarter-final and doubledas a gravitational force which drew in even peripheral football viewers along with every France defender on the pitch at Suncorp Stadium. After120 tense minutes full of twists and turns but no goals,came a penalty shootout featuring no fewer than 20 spot-kicks.
Mackenzie Arnold,the goalkeeper who has only this year forced her way into a starting position,wrote her name into Australian sporting folklore with four saves,including two on Kenza Dali after her first was chalked off by the VAR because she had come off her line. That she made two of those after taking and missing one herself only added to the heroic nature of her resilience under unenviable pressure.
The Matildas celebrate winning the penalty shootout against France in the World Cup quarter-final.Credit:Reuters
Then Cortnee Vine - the same Cortnee Vine whosuffers from imposter syndrome - converted the winning penalty. It was the longest shootout in World Cup history and the greatest in Australian football. John Aloisi,who converted the winning penalty against Uruguay in 2005 to send the Socceroos to their first World Cup in 32 years,said he was happy to be relegated to second.
The old enemy
“What did you think of the Bairstow stumping?”a British journalist asked England midfielder Keira Walsh. She literally had no idea what he was talking about. And as much as the press tried to drum up theAustralia-England rivalry,the players themselves were having none of it. This was a women’s football match,they said - it had nothing to do with the Ashes or netball or Jonny Wilkinson. Well,at least Kerr has aformidable record over Mary Earps.
The Matildas,really,werejust trying to recover in time for their first-ever World Cup semi-final,having been run ragged against France. Gustavsson said hisTriple-SM team were miracle workers. They had the mental edge,having beaten the Lionesses 2-0 in a friendly in April. That was the sole loss on Sarina Wiegman’s 37-match record as England manager. Perhaps less attention was paid to the other 36 games,because the Matildas wereoutplayed 3-1 by the European champions and Gustavsson outcoached by Wiegman.
Not even Kerr could save the day,though she did her very best with awonder goal for the ages,running solo from the halfway line,evading defenders and unleashing her finish from 20 metres out.
Bitter Swede
The Matildas had lost their spark against England andquestions returned about Gustavsson’s dearth of substitutions.
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The team were morefocused on claiming third place,having experienced the pain of missing out on bronze at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
All they had to do was see off Sweden,who they had beaten 4-0 last November but who had also beat them a number of times,including in the Olympics semi-finals. At Suncorp Stadium they were dead on their feetand lost 2-0,thecurtain came down on Australia’s campaign and the players - despite their historic run - realised their worst nightmareof finishing fourth. Gustavssonwould not directly answer a question about whether he would see out the remainder of his contract - or if he was interested in the vacant US national team job.