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The Matildas' familiar World Cup journey

Alen Stajcic and his Matildas qualified for the Olympics in devastating fashion.
Roar Guru
30th June, 2015
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The 2015 Women’s World Cup may be over for the Australian team, but the Matildas have forged a memory which should last long in the minds of sports fans in this country.

Women’s sport continues to make headlines for the right reasons and we can only hope the exploits of the Australians in Canada lead to more equitable coverage and pay rates in the future.

With all that, there was something remarkably familiar about the Matildas’ storied run.

Similarities and coincidences abound with their recent campaign and that of the Socceroos’ 2006 journey in Germany. Both sides had a win, a draw and a loss in the group stage. Both had the same goal difference. Both needed a draw in the final game to qualify and both were beaten by a former world champion in the group stage.

Both were eliminated by a former world champion in the knockout stage. Both recorded 3-1, 2-0 and 1-0 scorelines in their run (although the Socceroos won a game 3-1 and lost a game 2-0; it was the other way around for the Matildas).

The final game of both sides’ campaigns felt familiar as well. In 2006, the Socceroos matched it with Italy in their round of 16 game, without ever looking likely to take the ascendancy. In the end, they were defeated in the cruellest of fashions, with the last kick of the game, after a penalty decision that will be debated for years to come.

The Matildas had their half-chances against Japan in their quarter-final last weekend. But similar to their male counterparts they were well-contained by an opponent who were just a little better, and it was the Matildas’ rock-like defensive display that kept them in the game until the 87th minute.

The Japanese goal has escaped too much scrutiny, but in freeze frame there is a case to be made for offside, as Mana Iwabuchi was fractionally ahead of the second-last Matildas defender when the ball was played to her. That said, it would have taken an eagle eye to pick up the infraction, and the Japanese were the better side over the 90 minutes.

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Another similarity was the nursing of each side’s star player through the tournament. Matildas coach Alen Stajcic and his medical staff did a masterful job in keeping captain Lisa De Vanna on the pitch at times of greatest need, as she coped with an ankle injury.

It was reminiscent of Guus Hiddink’s use of Harry Kewell in 2006, with the kicker being that De Vanna’s replacement against Japan served to blunt the Matildas’ scoring options, just as Kewell’s absence against Italy took away much of the Socceroos’ attacking potential.

Speaking of the coaches, a similarity in reverse: as Dutchman Guus Hiddink was brought in from overseas to replace a local (Frank Farina) with a team in some crisis, while the local boy Stajcic replaced Dutch-born Hesterine de Reus after rumours of a player revolt.

Of course, there were differences, and the Matildas deserve to stand without comparison for their 2015 exploits.

The win against Brazil in the round of 16 was historic, a wonderful moment for indigenous star Kyah Simon whose finish in the 80th minute swept the Matildas to the quarter-finals. Not unfamiliar territory for them, but the first time they’d had to win a sudden-death game to get there.

And while the 2006 Socceroos were at the peak of their powers, the Matildas may well be peaking by 2019, as 95 per cent of the squad is young enough to realistically be squad members for the next World Cup. It’s a team that is capable of more history yet.

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