Matildas knocked out by Norway in penalty shoot-out

A wake call for Australian football, especially for the women’s side. We made some tactical mistakes along with wrong player selection. What could have been...

Both the ref and VAR were poor. Not one of the 4-5 contentious decisions went our way. If they had, even one of them, we may be talking about our quarter final opponent instead of lamenting, what could have been.

"teams ranked below us". You realise this happens in the men's game all the time? Rankings are fairly worthless. They give an indication of where your team lies in the world order but no more.

The men's kit is just as bad if not worse, Nike kits in general are rubbish compared to Adidas. Umbro make some nice ones too

"ScoMo deserves his pay though, he performs when it matters". Like handing out Sharks caps to bemused onlookers?

Dont think weve stagnated, we just look bad because defences have got better. The fact is some of the traditional powers in football are starting to take the women's game seriously. They already have the best pathways, the best coaches, and the financial muscle. Theres only so much that can be done in Australia considering football is a niche sport.

You only think that because Norway sat back and ceded possession after they went 1 up. They still had good chances to score playing on the break. That's what counts, not possession.

Lemons all round?

Also what saved her was her very clear intention to NOT involve her arm. Good call in the end. We lost because we didn't score enough goals in regular time.

You could be right torchbearer. Now I think about it, round of eight being quarter finals, rather than semis being final four. Whatever, we didn't reach it.

I agree. Where the men and women are ranked does not mean the men, or women, are better, or not, than the other sex.

"the Italians had two goals disallowed for offside, one by a hair’s breadth" Who cares? Our Game has a Law that prevents a player from gaining an advantage, or interfering with play, or interfering with an opponent, when he/she is in an Offside Position. This morning, Sam Kerr put the ball into the net from a sublime move. But, Kerr was in an Offside Position when the ball was played to her, so she gained an illegal advantage & the ball in the net counts for nought. This is Football.

If you're gonna defend as shockingly as these girls did in this tournament you can't really be taken seriously as a contender for the cup. Asleep at the back for Norway's goal and were exposed again leading to the red.

BTW Nemesis, I acknowledged my lack of football knowledge at the beginning of my commentary, so your ungracious & condescending response is unappreciated & booted into the cosmos. It says more about you than me. I’ve watched a lot of sport for over 50 years, so I know enough to hold a conversation on many sports. Back to the Italy match, the Italians had two goals disallowed for offside, one by a hair’s breadth. Sure, the Matildas had more possession, but how you use the ball is far more important than how often you hold the ball. Who’s Kochie? So, I say this kindly to you, go stuff yourself.

"Appreciate your empathetic response…not." Not sure what you were expecting :) :)

I blame the kit. Those shirts are a shocker. Was that another FFA masterstroke making the girls play in that kit ?

I think some of the evaluations are a bit harsh. For most of the first half Norway looked like better players but we looked like a better team. In the second half and extra time we seemed to be camped in their half, just couldn't apply the killing blow. Matildas weren't that bad but lacked some finishing (similar to Socceroos under Ange - is that going to be a problem here?). My beef is is with the FFA for the unnecessary drama beforehand - and their assessment that they had to change coaches as Stajcic 'couldn't take them through to the WWC finals' has blown up in their face big time. At no stage during this competition did the Matildas look anywhere near their best. My second beef is the blame on officials. The biggest error IMO came at the end when one Norway player wasn't given a second yellow, other than that most calls were fine including the reversed penalty. I really dislike it when teams are trying to get the ref to help them win (though I know this is a world-wide and gender equal problem). No sympathy for a team who loses by penalties - you should have gone all out in the last 20 to win.

I remember when Boogard hacked down Brosque clear on goal and he didn't get a red card but a yellow because the other central defender who was ten meters across field and level and no chance of cutting him off before a shot . Why is it your incredibly biased in favour of Newcastle and against Sydney in the A-league. Yet on the national team level your such an Uncle Tom, that applies double to the other big whiners against Sydney Fc in all A-league threads.

2 wins and 2 loses to teams ranked below you....makes me sort of happy the whole thing is over. A bit like the mess they made of the last Asia Cup. And against a big, strong field, Australia can kiss goodbye to hosting the next Womens World Cup. I hope they save their money.

I thought the round of 8 was the consensus as a Pass mark for the world's number 6 team..any better was a credit. Anyway, we got a C minus or Fail instead.