The Matildas have claimed their biggest head of hair in five years with a stunning 4-0 win over Sweden, the world’s second-ranked team and last year’s Olympic silver medalists.
In a monumental step forward in their preparations for next year’s World Cup on home soil, the Matildas swept the European heavyweights with a masterclass in clinical counter-attacking football.
It was undoubtedly the best win under Matildas’ Swedish head coach Tony Gustavsson, who has faced criticism for Matildas’ embarrassing failure at the Asian Cup in January and a disappointing record against top-ranked nations.
But Gustavsson silenced his critics with a first win in four attempts against the Swedes, who have twice beaten Australia at the Tokyo Olympics and had only lost once in their last 20 internationals.
Simultaneously, it is only the second victory the Matildas have achieved over European heavyweights (in 14 previous attempts), the other being in 1997, and the highest-ranked opponent the Matildas have defeated since a shock victory over the number 1 in the world, USA in 2017.
The Matildas scored against the tide of play late in the first half through captain Sam Kerr, having defended bravely as Sweden created the best chances in the opening stanza.
But the Aussies stormed the blocks in the second half to sweep the visitors away.
Arsenal striker Caitlin Foord scored a second-half brace, including an impressive shot from the edge of the box, to add up to five goals in Australia’s three successive wins.
Foord, who turned 28 yesterday, told Channel 10: “I’m enjoying myself right now, enjoying my football… I love playing with these girls.”
She credited a full off-season at Arsenal for igniting her brilliant recent form, after years of playing back-to-back seasons in Australia and the US with short changes.
19-year-old rising star Mary Fowler completed the scoring from the bench as 22,065 fans celebrated the impressive performance.
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Foord said the team’s strategy has developed a lot in the last 12 months to better balance the team’s tactics between Gustavsson’s ideals and the team’s approach.
“I feel like we finally came together, we found that sweet spot. We want to be an attacking team, we want to be aggressive and we play our best when we are like that.”
AS A STEP
Superstar captain Sam Kerr pushed the ball into the near post from a Hayley Raso cut eight minutes before halftime, giving the hosts the lead after a high-intensity opening stanza.
Both teams regularly threatened from the start, but it was Sweden who had the best of the chances, taking seven shots against three in the first half.
The Matildas withstood the pressure from the pressing visitors defence, Sweden’s shot hitting the post but then ruled for offside, and they broke the tie when winger Raso raced to the byline and slid the ball for Kerr. will push the door.
It was the Chelsea striker’s first goal in five games for the Matildas, but a record-extending 60th goal in the green and gold.
The frenetic action continued into the second half as the Matildas were forced into several desperate blocks in the penalty area. But the Aussies were giving the world’s heavyweights massive problems with their pace in transition, and went all-out to double the lead through Arsenal striker Caitlin Foord in the 51st minute.
Foord, who had been the standout player of the first half, shot out of her own penalty area to run quickly to the other side of the pitch and sent her defense the wrong way, curving the ball from the edge of the box into the upper part. corner sublimely.
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After scoring one goal against South Africa and two against Denmark in Matildas’ most recent matches, the in-form Foord converted her 26th Matildas goal against the Swedes.
Sweden responded by making a triple substitution, to which the Matildas eventually responded by bringing in young attacker Mary Fowler. And it was the Matildas who should have scored next, when Raso missed from close range at the far post in the 70th minute following a Sam Kerr header from a Steph Catley corner.
But the Matildas’ electric second half continued as midfielder Katrina Gorry sent a long ball on the fast break to Sam Kerr, who held the ball on the edge of the box and fed it to Fowler, whose deflected shot slipped into the back of the box. . net.
Fowler’s goal in the 73rd minute was already the Manchester City star’s ninth goal in the green and gold.
Foord scored her second of the afternoon five minutes later after a precise attacking buildup, with Foord and Kerr combining, before Kerr found midfielder Emily van Egmond, who split the defense with a perfectly weighted pass on her first touch. . Foord held on to the ball and lifted it into the back of the net, but was substituted before he could secure a hat-trick.
Meanwhile, centre-back Clare Polkinghorne captained the team to her 150th appearance in Australia – only the third person to reach that milestone – and against the nation where she plays her club football.
He played alongside Arsenal’s makeshift central defender Steph Catley in a new central defensive pairing that worked extremely well, while young fullback Charli Grant also impressed.
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