On Sunday night, the Matildas notched up a hard-fought, but entertaining 3-2 victory over Equatorial Guinea.
They proved to be the far more superior team on the pitch. With a solid midfield led by Sally Shipard, Heather Garriock, Emily Van Egmond and Collette McCallum, they spent much of the game in their opponent’s half, and had numerous opportunities, which well could have seen the score-line bolstered. Forward Lisa De Vanna to no-one’s surprise was once again a stand-out, as was Leena Khamis who did a great job setting up chances as well as converting them.
Their two conceded goals came of the same mistake by our central defender Servet Unzular who was indecisive at the back, and Equatorial Guinea’s best player Anonman made her pay the ultimate price.
Though there were some regrettable errors and lapses in concentration, which I’ve no doubt head coach Tom Sermanni will address before their next match, there was plenty to like about the football being played.
Undoubtedly the most talked about point in the match and the subject of much controversy, was the most horrifically blatant, mind-boggling hand ball of all time, that was somehow overlooked by referee, Gyoengyi Gaal.
It gave an all new meaning to “possession football”.
If you haven’t seen it already, here it is.
A cross floated into the square for the advancing Khamis to tap into the goal. But the ball hit the cross bar and deflected back into play, only for Equatorial Guinean player, Bruna, to pick it up, look at the referee, and then not so subtly drop it behind her for her goalkeeper to collect.
If you blinked you could have missed it (which I think most of us did initially). Too shocking to even consider it could happen on the field at a World Cup, women’s or otherwise. That might be okay for the happy punters at home, it might have even drawn a laugh or two, but for a FIFA referee to miss it, well, that’s another story.
It should have been a penalty, Bruna should have been red-carded, and the Matildas should have gone up 2-0.
Overall, it wasn’t exactly a good showing for the Hungarian referee. But I will give her credit for not succumbing to the borderline ridiculous diving and flailing of some Equatorial Guinean players.
For the Matildas, the win means they are now within reach of qualifying for the next round, sitting in second position in the group. Brazil’s 3-0 win over Norway, who they will play next in their final group match, means that the Matildas only require a draw to progress to the quarter finals.
And it’s certainly doable.
In 2007 at the World Cup, they drew Norway 1-1. At that World Cup they progressed to the quarter finals only to be bundled out by Brazil. But should they defeat or draw Norway, they will meet either USA or Sweden. No easy-beats certainly, particularly if matched up against the No.1 ranked USA, but with the exciting brand of football the Matildas are playing, I wouldn’t rule out an upset.
Remember the joy of the nation when Australian made it to the round of 16 in the 2006 World Cup? When we beat Croatia? Why can’t that same feeling be shared for our national women’s team?
On a Sunday night, at an appropriate hour, 9.30pm, on a free to air channel, nationally (across the five main metropolitan areas) SBS Two’s live broadcast of the Matildas match against Equatorial Guinea drew just 48,000 viewers. Pathetic. It was the 143rd most watched program for the multi channels on that Sunday.
Australia, that’s awful.
If you were watching, you would have seen a good game of football. The goals we scored were beautifully executed, and there were others that came close (McCallum’s curving free kicks were just one of the highlights).
Our team are Asian Cup champions. We are going into this World Cup with a greater chance than ever before. Here’s our chance, and this is how we get behind our team?
On Thursday morning, at 2am AEST, I urge every self-respecting football fan and patriotic Australian to awake from their slumber, just as we did for the Socceroos in 2010 and 2006, to put on your green and gold scarf, grab a mate, and cheer on our Matildas.
This is the level of football Australia has for so long been trying to reach. We’re here, it’s the world stage and we’re in with a shot. Now let’s make the most of it and help the further growth of football in Australia. Male or female, it’s the world game.
And it all starts with support.
Jon
Guest
Zac - I'm still waiting for the Roar to publish something about the Matilda's win - are you now saying my opinions dont count?
Jon
Guest
Disagree on the 'what people want' statement. News LTD ownes 50% of the NRL so every positive article is positive advertising and every negative article they dont post is positive advertising for their business. I will come out and say it - people are sheep - they will follow the crowd. The olympics are a good example. Athletes compete in empty stadiums but the media hype it up for advertising purposes. Occasionlly they will blow enough smoke about a particular athlete that the stadium fills to watch the event - it is the media that sets the agenda and the sheep follow. No discussion of Football equates to no bums on seats but yet Football is the most played ball sport in this country - go figure.
PeterK
Guest
Love it!
PeterK
Guest
Jon, isn't that true of football too? We easily have the highest participation rate in Oz, but a relatively low spectating rate: everyone seems to want to PLAY soccer, but not to be bothered with WATCHing it. Fortunately I think the A-League -- courtesy of styles and successes like Brisbane Roar's -- is (very slowly) changing that.
PeterK
Guest
Yes, I don't know how they knew I was watching in my little 10000 strong town in tropical Qld! I bet they didn't!
PeterK
Guest
Yes, our ladies seem to play for the LOVE of the game, and doesn't it show!
PeterK
Guest
The fact that it's a bit slower, Ken, means that those of us with slower brains can follow better what's happening! I love watching our ladies play. I love their happy attitude and I love their acceptance of poor refereeing decisions. It's not hard to feel part of a "family". They even seem to feel empathy with their opponents at times. (I don't love the poor refereeing decisions, but referees are I guess human!)
Jon
Guest
Note for the editor. Its hard to comment on Matilda stories if they arnt there. NRL link has three on the SOO result. Surley you could have penned something before going night-night Melanie?
Zac Zavos
Editor
Jon, media (The Roar included) will publish what people want. That's how media works - by aggregating audiences and then offering that audience to brands to speak to. Why else do you think there's so much trashy & fleshy content on SMH.com.au as opposed to their broadsheet? In the online space, you know exactly what people are looking for and clicking on.
Cleanmatch
Guest
China is good for equality. Unfortunately, it only gets a very brief mention here in England.
Jon
Guest
Maybe women 'are' smarter than men and dont need to use the search tool to find what they are looking for :)
Kinibari
Guest
Although to some extent it's a chicken and an egg situation, in that you have to be at least somewhat interested to seek out information about the Matilidas, and if there's nothing to get you interested in the first place why would you bother? There is much less hype around the women's world cup. (Obviously that is not the only factor, but I think it is one reason for the lack of interest.)
Kinibari
Guest
Given how many calls there have been for more free to air football I am disappointed that so few people are watching the Matildas, especially since the matches have been so entertaining. Still, at least there is more excitement and attention than there has been previously - I can only hope things continue to improve. The amount of sexism that people feel free to express regarding the Matildas and women's football in particular is rather offputting however. Just goes to show how far we still have to go.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The lesson of tennis is an interesting one. Certainly nearly all of the arguments against women's football I once heard 20 odd years ago in relation to women's tennis. The question is, Zac, which way is it trending and what can we do to assist?
Jupiter53
Guest
I love watching the Matildas with my daughter [while raving on the phone with my brother about the latest refereeing disaster]. Are they as good as Barcelona? No way, but then who is? As a Sydney FC season ticket holder I can safely say that they play better than most of what Sydney managed last year. Those who say that they are not as fast or as strong or as skilful as the boys may be correct. However, there are players whom I find well worth watching in their own right. If there is a more intelligent passer from midfield in the men's game in Australia than Colette McCallum I'd like to know who it is. Their passing game is thoughtful and the way I like to see the game played. And the sheer guts they showed in their Asian Cup win makes them one of my favourite sporting teams. So more Matildas please! Bring on Norway and then the quarterfinals!
Jon
Guest
That's why more people go to watch netball than the average league game in Sydney. Your comparrison avoids the truth by hiding behind the media who have money invested in men's sport. Half Australia's population are women and I would be surprised if they were not interested in women's sport. As an example of what I mean - Sunrise covered the women's tennis in depth and gave a long explanation of the U/17 girls - channel seven cover the tennis - but the Matilda's win did not get a run... Maybe if Frank Lowy got into the media we would start seeing more football coverage?
Zac Zavos
Editor
A nice call to arms, Melanie. A comment from a media owner's perspective (namely, The Roar's) is that the level of interest in most female sporting events is miniscule compared with male sports. We want to cover netball, women's football and the like. But the interest just simply isn't there at the scale you need to justify the copy-space. In the past month, we've received 280 people to The Roar who were searching for Matilda's content. We'd do about 500 times that traffic for State of Origin. OK, unfair comparison given the prominence of Origin football... But the point remains, we simply don't see large audience interest in sports such as netball or tournaments like the women's World Cup. Google's a good proxy for interest. And by this measure, I don't think there's great interest in the event.
punter
Guest
"All the talk from Craig Foster about the need to change the style of football to a possession based, playing from the back and attacking football. Well that’s off in the future with the mens national team but the Matildas have it in spade here and now." Cannot agree more. I thought watching the Matildas play, how well they push the ball around, maybe something to do with the opposition maybe, I saw the Olyroos play against Yemen & they to played with possesion & hardly any long balls, but then again they were a much better side. I for one am enjoying the women's WC & I don't compare it to the men's football. I enjoy it for what it is, the best in the world at their chosen sport.
punter
Guest
Plus Wimbledon was one as well.
Jon
Guest
Have watched both Matilda's matches and enjoy the fact that the ref allows the play to continue in most instances. Over-refereeing in men's football can kill a game so I am enjoying watching the women. I am still curious as to how half-a-dozern black-boxes per state can give you an acurate indication of how many people watched? But then we know sport is a business and the mainstream media has too much invested in codes other than football.