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The Asian Football Confederation has been waiting for Australia to stamp its authority on a continental competition, and while the Socceroos won the 2015 Asian Cup on home soil, it was never as convincing as this.
The Matildas left the best of Asia trailing in their wake. In women’s football, the best of Asia is a big player in the ‘best of the world’ discussion in a way that the region just isn’t, sadly, when it comes to the men.
The team spirit, the aggression, the energy and no little degree of skill took the Matildas to Rio. It’s not like getting there was a major shock, the team did reach the last eight of the World Cup last year. It was the manner of it all. In the end, they made it look so easy, and that is the hardest thing of all.
Especially as it was in Japan. There were only two places in Rio available for the six qualification finalists. When you have the 2011 World Cup winner, 2015 World Cup finalist, 2012 Olympic silver medalist and 2014 Asian Champion playing at home, it was more of a case of one from five.
Throw in a resurgent China, the tough North Koreans and an improving South Korean team and it was going to be tighter than the top of the A-League.
But it just wasn’t. The 3-1 win over Japan was as devastating for the hosts as the 3-1 win had been back in 2006 in Kaiserslautern. Just like the World Cup a decade ago, Japan never recovered from the opening loss.
Those male exploits in Germany were supposed to produce the kind of dominant performance at the 2007 Asian Cup that the women have managed in the past two weeks.
While the Socceroos were being eliminated at the knockout stage thanks to a dodgy penalty converted by the eventual champion, the four Asian representatives all fell at the group stage. A year later, many thought that Australia’s first appearance at the Asian Cup would be easy.
Lucas Neill and coach Graham Arnold certainly did. There is nothing wrong with a bit of arrogance, you could even argue that Asian football could do with a little more, but it has to be earned first. Doing well at the World Cup provoked an assumption that the continental tournament would be easy yet Australia was mediocre.
That is a long time ago and the current team is different and the women are completely different. The lack of ego and willingness to work for each other is striking. You could almost say, East Asian-like.
But there is something else. All the East Asian coaches – North Korean, South Korean and Japanese – commented on how aggressive the Australians were and how aggressively they attacked.
This is why, on the pitch at least, Australia entered Asia – to add something different. It is up to the Koreans, Japanese and whoever else to learn how to deal with different styles. It can only help all teams improve and help in future challenges on the world stage. Australia’s women bring a completely different game to Asian football and it should be welcomed.
In the short-term though, it is painful, especially in Japan. In truth, there was already a sense that the Nadeshiko were coming to an end of an era though Rio would have made a more fitting backdrop for a swansong than a cold night in Osaka.
The average age of the squad was 29 and there were some concerns expressed behind the scenes that the coach of eight years had been handed a new contract when some felt it was time for new blood at all levels. After qualification started there has been criticism, most notably by the legendary 2011 World Cup captain Homare Sawa of the lack of desire and, yes, aggression.
Even so, nobody expected this. Australia’s win over Japan blew the hosts way. The 9-0 thrashing of Vietnam was ruthless, the 2-0 win over South Korea well managed and it was the North Koreans who gave the Matildas a tough time and felt they did enough to win. It was a reminder that there is still plenty of work to do but it was the kind of experience that will stand them in good stead in Brazil.
So Australia has done women’s football in Asia a big service, showing a different way to play and asking the others tough questions that can only help the ones who want to improve, improve. A bigger service would be to win gold in Brazil. Unlikely? Perhaps, but you never know what will happen – just look at the events of the past few days in Japan.
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