Australia’s men knocked them out of the 2022 World Cup and now the Matildas have the chance to do the same at the Women’s finals.
Denmark set up a date with the Matildas at Stadium Australia on Monday night at 8.30pm AEST after beating Haiti 2-0 on Tuesday night for finish second in group D behind England, who thrashed China 6-1 in a concurrent match.
The Matildas’ stirring win over Canada on Monday helped them advance top of B and consigned Nigeria to a playoff against the English, who were in blistering form in Adelaide, at 5.30pm on Monday.
Australia’s men have faced Denmark at the past two World Cups, and beat them last year to reach the knockout stages.
The Matildas last faced the Danes in October, and they won 3-1 with Caitlin Foord scoring a double. It was their first win over the Danes after three losses and two draws and a first win over European opposition since 2018.
Australia followed that up with a stunning 2-0 win over England in April this year.
Matildas superstar Sam Kerr, who scored in that game, has another seven days to prove her fitness for the clash but can take heart from how her teammates dominated without her against Canada.
Kerr was medically cleared to play a role off the bench and prepared to risk further damage to her troublesome left calf if Australia needed her on Monday night.
Sam Kerr of Australia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
But her teammates heeded their captain’s request to get the job done without her, thrashing Canada 4-0 to advance at the Olympic champions’ expense.
“The only words Sam said to the team was, ‘make sure you win without me so I can get another week to try and recover and get healthy’,” Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said.
“The team responded and said, ‘yes, we will, you sit on the bench tonight and we’ll win for you’.
“You could see that commitment from the players, ‘let’s do it so Sam gets another week’.
“Having that belief as a team (to be without) in my opinion the best striker in the world, which I think Sam is, and still go out and play the fluid football we did against the Olympic champions and score four goals, I think is very impressive.”
The fluid front four of Caitlin Foord, Emily van Egmond, Mary Fowler and Hayley Raso, who scored a brace, dazzled without Kerr.
“Everyone in this team is prepared to play any role they’re asked to,” goalscorer Fowler said.
“It just goes to show the kind of depth and players we have, ready to be there for one another.”
Foord and stand-in captain Steph Catley were a force to be reckoned with on the left.
“Obviously, with Sam out of the picture, Caitlin is versatile,” Catley said.
“But I personally love it when she’s on the left. We know each other so well, we don’t even have to think – it’s very natural.
“Wherever she is on the field, she’s dangerous, and she’s going to do a job for us.”
There were early signs Kerr was not going to feature against Canada.
The 29-year-old striker was a bystander during the warm-up as her fellow substitutes went through their paces and did not take part in their halftime drills.
But Kerr gave the entire Matildas squad their final pitchside rev-up before the match and was on her feet each time Australia put the ball in Canada’s net.
Nothing was going to stop her taking part in the raucous post-match celebrations.
“Just because Sam wasn’t on the park doesn’t mean she wasn’t in the team tonight,” Gustavsson said.
“The way she leads the team and what she gives to the team off the field as well, not just in the locker room and on the buses, but in the hotel and in the meetings … that is massive leadership.”
(With AAP)
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