Matildas’ win Australia’s greatest achievement?
Columnist
By Davidde Corran, 1 Jun 2010 Davidde Corran is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- AFC Asian Cup, football, Matildas, Servet Uzunlar, Socceroos, Tom Sermanni
Matildas team coach Tom Sermanni, left and defender Kate MC Shea during a press conference. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan.
With 48 hours having elapsed since the Matildas’ stunning Asian Cup victory, we can now reflect on the game, without the passion and adrenaline that such a wonderfully surprising victory throws up.
While for the most part Australia has shown a resistance to appreciate Asian football, it should also be remembered just how many new faces there were in this Matildas side. This was a monumental win.
“I think this would be the best highlight of my career so far,” said the Matildas coach Tom Sermanni.
Sermanni’s enthusiasm was also matched by midfielder Servet Uzunlar.
“I think it was an amazing effort by all of us and I thought we dug really deep and showed the true Aussie spirit to win the match,” the Sydney FC player said.
“To not only qualify but to become the number one team in Asia is an absolutely fantastic achievement.”
Yet even though the Matildas are now the number one side in Asia, it still feels a bit of a stretch to say they are the best football team on the continent.
With all that in mind then, is this the biggest success in Australian football history?
To answer that question let’s consider what else could compete with it.
First off there are Australia’s three successful World Cup qualification campaigns.
For my mind the achievement of the 1973 team to reach football’s biggest competition outweighs the others.
2005 was a wonderful moment but overcoming Oceanic opposition and then defeating Uruguay in a penalty shoot-out with a dash of fortune isn’t quite as phenomenal in the cold light of day.
Nor does qualifying through Asia this time around, though it must go close.
What about the Socceroos making the Round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup then?
There’s a reasonable argument for that but at the end of the day the Socceroos played four games and only managed to win one of them.
Okay, the Matildas in 2007? It may have put the women’s game into the national conscience but a honourable defeat to Brazil in the quarterfinals is still a defeat.
The same is true for the string of Australian youth team fourth place finishes in the early 90s and don’t get me started on the Confederations Cup.
For my mind there can be no doubt that this victory was the most significant in the history of women’s football in Australia. I’m not sure whether it was the greatest Australian achievement within the game at large but I guess it isn’t of too much consequence. It’s just a wonderful fact that the Matildas’ victory even allows us to consider this debate.
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John said | June 1st 2010 @ 7:28am | Report comment
It is being a bit harsh on the Socceroos to call a victory in a pretty marginal tournament (1,200 people at the final… What the hell?) Australian Soccer’s greatest achievement. Beyond Tennis and Golf and Olympics it is hard to get particularly excited about any achievement in women’s sport – because the competition just isn’t there.
Al said | June 1st 2010 @ 8:08am | Report comment
Yes John, please leave your cor-magnon comments in the cave. I suppose you could have beaten the North Korean women’s team singlehandedly being the big strong man that you are
John said | June 1st 2010 @ 9:39am | Report comment
It’s nothing to do with strength mate, but the level of competition. Womens tennis is great to watch because it is every bit as competitive as men’s tennis. Women’s football is simply not as competitive and not taken as seriously as the men’s equivalent.
Let’s be honest – if a regressive state North Korea can go well (with total isolation from professional competition, training and coaching) the caliber is not particularly high.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | June 1st 2010 @ 10:44am | Report comment
their men are in the World Cup…….
Derby County FC said | June 1st 2010 @ 12:18pm | Report comment
So are NZ….. your point is?
Mic said | June 1st 2010 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
Yes NZ a team which almost beat Aus and defeated Serbia. There is some quality there. Can it honestly be argued that an entire tournament involving such a large region, that no team had skill, therefore it is a claytons win by the Matildas.
This is a crowning moment for Australian football and the very small trophy cabinet just got a little bigger.
Derby County FC said | June 1st 2010 @ 3:23pm | Report comment
Mic
I do think some teams had skill, it’s all relative isn’t it?
To be honest, and i don’t want to offend anyone here but in my opinion the Matildas winning this was like Greece winning the mens Euros a few years ago. They played to their strengths and had very little skill, the match against China was a good example, the Chinese girls passing was crisp and accurate, the Matildas was shocking….. long ball, long ball. Stout defending saw them win that title just like Greece (and Italy at the world cup 2006), that’s just the way it is.
Just my opininion and at the end of the day they have that trophy and in future years nobody will care how it was won (too much anyway).
Oh yeah, well done girls, congratulations.
MV Dave said | June 1st 2010 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
So Derby C FC
If England happen to win the WC with a goal resulting from a long ball and flick on…you would be critical? Any team worth its salt plays to its strengths…if it doesnt it wont be successful. What you are asking is all teams play the same style (however you want to define it) otherwise they arent deserving of success…how boring would football be if that was the case.
BTW Already said it but the Matilda’s were fantastic and great ambassadors for their code and country. Could they get to the WC semi’s in 2011? Depending on the draw could be a realistic aim.
DERBY COUNTY FC said | June 1st 2010 @ 6:07pm | Report comment
MV Dave
To be honest i don’t think i was critical in fact i think i was quite complimentory, they did well and won by playing to their strengths, you are putting words into my mouth by saying all teams should play the same style… you said that, not me. I never said teams had to play the same way, never would i say that, you play to your strengths… simple, but if you think they won on skill then you’re mistaken, they won on physicality, defending and long balls and so what, i’m not dogging that, how could i, i’m English… it would be hypocritical. England would never win a game if they tried to play like Brazil just like the Matildas if they tried to play like the Chinese girls.
I think you’ve misinterpreted what i said.
And if England won on a long ball and a flick i’d think….. yeah, that’s England.
apaway said | June 1st 2010 @ 8:26pm | Report comment
A great performance by the Matildas, and a very significant step in Australia’s football pedigree. John, I have to say, all due respect, you’re wrong. For a start, women’s tennis isn’t played over the best of 5 sets so the game is already different. Women’s football is played on the same size pitch, with the same rules and the same time limits as the men.
Mark Young said | June 1st 2010 @ 8:06am | Report comment
What a wonderful effort by the Ladies to win a major international tournament.
Gritty, skillful, a terrific team and richly deserved.
And certainly one of the nations finest achievements in sports, def in top 20 of all sports all time.
I hope they inspire the men to get their game heads on
Cpaaa said | June 1st 2010 @ 8:25am | Report comment
There are so many different variables, different situations, different competitions and different eras to say which is our greatest football triumph.
But the one that sticks to my mind is the one that dosnt get a mention.
The 1967 tour of Vietnam.
Even Jesse Fink mentioned it in his latest twg article.
The Australian Government in 1967 sent the Australian football team into a war zone in the name of Peace. This was Australias first international trophy defeating South Korea 3-2 in the final. Johnny Warren and the lads were protected by Australian soldiers during the entire tournament. Cheered on by a packed Cong Hoa Stadium, The South Vietnamese cheered for Australia, for the Vietnamese had a dislike for the Koreans at the time. The packed stadium was unusual, for the aussies considering the lack of home grown support for Australian Football.
An amazing read for anyone interested in Australias sporting History. “the Birth of the Socceroos” is the chapter in Johnny Warrens Book. “Sheilas Wogs and Poofters”
No matter how wrong it seems sending a bunch of kids to play football in a war zone, it is the perfect picture that represents the struggle Australian Football has had to face. Yet like that tournament, like that victorious final against South Korea, Australian Football will prevail, no matter how long that journey may take.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | June 1st 2010 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
don’t forget the two games at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh while you’re at it. 1965, North Korea v Australia in the World Cup Qualifier. 40,000 people turned up and King Norodom Sihanouk decreed that half would cheer for the Koreans and the other half for the Australians. We were flogged in both games.
Davidde Corran said | June 2nd 2010 @ 7:01am | Report comment
Cpaaa I’m really glad you mentioned that. To be honest it didn’t get a mention because of the nature of the tour. There is no doubt it is the most amazing accomplishment any national team and possibly any sporting side in Australia has ever done. Playing competitively in a warzone! Phenomenal.
Rob Gremio said | June 1st 2010 @ 9:37am | Report comment
If it’s not the finest moment in Australian football history, it has to go close, that’s for sure. A brilliant result, certainly.
On the youth team successes, surely the best performance was the u/17 World cup where the lads got to the final, only to lose on penalties to Brazil?
But for mine, this performance sits alongside the 1974 WC qualification achieved by the men. Two great performances by two fantastic teams. If all the youngsters in this Matildas side can go on to develop to their potential, then we really have a great shake at doing well at the World Cup. Just a superlative effort.
ItsCalledFootball said | June 1st 2010 @ 9:42am | Report comment
According to the Sydney press its no great achievement – absolutely disgraceful coverage.
Even the ABC ignored it and were running stories about the homophobic AFL player instead.
Shame on you all.
Trusters said | June 1st 2010 @ 4:42pm | Report comment
To be fair did the men’s hockey winning the world cup against genuine international competition get a great deal of coverage.
I think the Sydney press are actually quite pro-football. It gets loads of coverage through the SMH.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | June 1st 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
It is the most important piece of silverware we currently own in the football cabinet. Well done to the girls and hopefully they can take it one step further in the World Cup.
whiskeymac said | June 1st 2010 @ 2:46pm | Report comment
well said
jupiter53 said | June 1st 2010 @ 11:01am | Report comment
I’ve been a supporter and attended internationals since the mid 1960s.
To me it is Australian football’s greatest achievement for the paramount reason that they WON!!!!
There is a great Australian tradition of heroic failure. Bugger that!
This is the first time that an Australian football team has won a meaningful tournament. It came from intelligent management of team selection and tactics over the whole tournament, from a mixture of patches of skilful attacking play and a lot of determined and well organised defending, and from the sort of tough mindedness exemplified by decisively netting 5 out of 5 penalties in the shoot out.
Let’s hope the men learn from their example. Congratulations again to the whole of the Matildas squad and management on their inspiring success.
Black Diamonds said | June 3rd 2010 @ 6:50pm | Report comment
To quote you.
“There is a great Australian tradition of heroic failure. Bugger that”
Mate you could not be more wrong!
There is a great Australian tradition of heroic victories! In nearly all sports. America’s Cup (First to beat the cheating NY Yacht Club), Tennis (27?28 Davis Cup victories?) – only just behind the might of the USA, countless Mens and Womens Hockey trophies, more than 100 gold medals at the Olympics – since World War II – that is more than the UK! A much bigger country than ourselves. Many many medals of the golden variety in Athletics and Swimming over the past century, and not to forget cycling either.
Heather McKay in Squash, numerous great golfers that have won majors, dominating other sports like Cricket, Rugby and Netball – though they’re only Commonwealth Sports. Overachieving at a Basketball – a sport played around the world. Hell – the Australian Women are World Basketball Champions! Beating off the might of the USA, Russia, China, Brazil – true powerhouses in a global context.
What is this great Australian tradition of “heroic failure” you speak of? You must have a very narrow mind if that is how you think.
A great achievement by the Matildas, but would you really tar all Australian sportsman with the brush of “heroic failure” that surely you really mean to paint those who have played in such competitions as the National Soccer League (1977 – 2003) with?
That seems mighty unfair.
albatross said | June 1st 2010 @ 11:15am | Report comment
>>(1,200 people at the final… What the hell?)
That says more about the 11 million people of Chengdu rather than the competition and its participants.
By contrast the 2008 Under 17 Women’s Would Cup in New Zealand attracted amazing crowds including 16,000 + at the DPRK vs USA final in Auckland (won 2-1 by the North Koreans (who actually scored all the goals)).
Trusters said | June 1st 2010 @ 4:44pm | Report comment
They get huge crowds in the US as well where women really seem to be leading the way with football.
TheWomensGame said | June 2nd 2010 @ 2:57pm | Report comment
It may not be the greatest achievement but it comes pretty damn close. The Matildas are ranked No. 5 in Asia and in this run they defeated the No. 5 (Japan), 7 (DPR Korea) and 10th (China) ranked nations in the world.
I think some of you need to do a little bit more research before you start typing. This wasn’t the Matildas best line up in the final. In fact they were missing three of their top 4 strikers in Sarah Walsh, Lisa DeVanna and Tameka Butt and Uzunlar and Garriock were injured and sore. Yes there was a lot of long balls but as one of the guys said you have to play to their strengths and were the best organised tactucally astute team and defence in the tournament by far. They had the pace of Sam Kerr and the ability of Katie Gill to hold up the ball so they used that in the final and held their nerve with 5 of the best penalties you will see.
With those other strikers in the side, the girls play a completely different system, tempo and style (4-3-3 to the 4-4-2 they played in the final). They keep it on the ground a hell of a lot more, play it out slowly before attacking at pace. That’s because the speed and skill of Walshy and DeVanna with Gill as a pivot allows tham to play that way. In fact it was master coaching by Tom Sermanni and for all the setbacks they had throughout the tournament, they defeated a full strength Japan, Korea and DPR Korea and lost 1 – 0 with our second XI to China.
Hats off the girls and the coaching staff. They did us proud in trying and atrocious conditions. It wasn’t pretty at times but you can’t always play beautiful football. Sometimes its just about guts and determination which the girls displayed in spades!
Now its up to the fully professional, high paid and top ranked men to do the same in the Asian Cup in January, after they take out the WC of course!