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The Matildas came into Monday night’s crunch game at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium with only one thing in mind, and judging by what transpired on the field, that was to go for the jugular.
Despite being out-passed and conceding the lion’s share of possession to the Olympic champions, the direct and devastating football served up for a besotted full house at Melbourne’s home of football followed a script that not many outside the Australian camp had foreseen.
And for the fans, those diehard Matildas devotees, this was the full gamut of emotions from pre-game, through 90 minutes of exhilarating football with goals and VAR uproar, to a post-game of celebration and relief.
Walking into the London Tavern in Richmond, a comfortable march from AAMI Park, the sea of yellow shirts and the vocal support of the country’s favourite sporting team was a sign of the devotion and commitment to the Matildas’ cause.
The same faces that lit up the stands in Sydney and Brisbane were back for more. Super fan Fatima Flores was perched on the edge of a wall at the centre of the large indoor/outdoor area, maintaining the beat of another chant as if on the scene of an MTV Unplugged set, finally getting to her feet as everyone joined in to roar the words and clap along.
“Trust in me when I say… we love Matildas!”
Fans admitted their nerves for this one, and also their desire to continue this World Cup journey that was gripping the nation.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Fast forward two hours, following an animated walk to the stadium, and those fans were seated together in the middle of the North End, the drums and the voices as one in support of their heroes in turquoise.
Despite some eyebrow-raising boos coming from around the stadium for coach Tony Gustavsson as his name was read out during the starting line-up, and despite some local fans looking to hijack the positive atmosphere, the evening was incredible.
The Matildas scored early, the celebrations curtailed by an offside flag, but the jeers turned to cheers as VAR intervened to award the goal. Kailen Sheridan made an incredible full length stop to deny Hayley Raso a second goal and by now the stadium was in a trance and at fever pitch.
Ellie Carpenter pumped up the crowd even more, urging the fans on the eastern side to their feet as she went to take a throw in. The unrelenting action saw nerves frayed as celebrations were ruined again by VAR, but then only a moment later, Raso had the second and the roof was lifted off.
Super fan Fatima was by now with paramedics tending to her ankle after a freak injury during the celebrations, her reign as capo passing on to the next in line and the transition was seamless.
Canada threw caution to the wind and made an incredible four substitutions at the break. An enthusiastic shout of ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’ from a nearby fan garnered no response, and there was no suggestion of a Mexican wave, the action on the field just too absorbing. The crowd though continued to ride the wave.
Katrina Gorry shot from halfway, such was the confidence coursing through the Australia team, and the Matildas had their third goal when substitute Sophie Schmidt did all the hard work, tracking Mary Fowler’s run but then left her all alone at the last moment to allow her to somehow bundle home captain Caitlin Foord’s cross.
Fowler hit the post, Mackenzie Arnold saved magnificently, and all the while the fans continued to bite their nails despite being three goals up heading into additional time. After all, Til The End is the catch cry.
By the time the final whistle had gone though, VAR had gifted a fourth goal to Australia and any doubts had gone when Steph Catley expertly dispatched a beautiful penalty.
The celebrations around the stadium were huge, the team did a lap of honour, maintaining their distance from the fans, and eventually disappeared down the tunnel to face a jovial media pack.
Alanna Kennedy’s irritation from Thursday night was replaced with relief and happiness.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The old cliché of Australia thriving under pressure when their backs were up against the wall was rolled out, but it was absolutely on point. Kyra Cooney-Cross had a hint of a smile and said she was really happy.
The team had a good feeling about the game; nothing had gone their way against Nigeria, and quite the opposite was the case. She expressed her love for AAMI Park, and said the focus was now on winning the World Cup.
Gorry hailed an incredible night and said that the Matildas can go all the way – using probability as statistics, she said it wasn’t possible to have two bad days in a row, and they were always going to put on a show
The atmosphere at the stadium was electric and topped her favourite venue, Suncorp Stadium, and the celebration at the end was special.
Echoing her teammate’s remarks, Cortnee Vine said the crowd was amazing and it had a massive impact on the game.
Catley was delighted to score a goal ‘at home’, and Fowler felt that the win gave her belief for the games ahead.
Mary Fowler celebrates scoring a goal. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
The straight-talking Clare Polkinghorne repeated her words from Thursday night by saying that this was no surprise result, as Raso and Christine Sinclair embraced in the background.
Carpenter lauded the brilliant saves of Arnold and Polks added that the Matildas group contained players in the top leagues around the world, and that this was a mature performance from a group who knew exactly where they had to improve.
By contrast, Sinclair’s post-mortem with the shell-shocked Canadian press was damning. It echoed the men’s exit from Qatar 2022, also at the group stage and gave us a taste of what post-game could have been like in different circumstances.
While there were no excuses, the Canadian players all having played in this type of high-pressure game in the past, she felt no pressure until Australia scored. The home fans then built on the momentum and Canada couldn’t recover.
Her parting words were to label this as a wake-up call to the football authorities in her home land. The lack of a professional league, the lack of support for the national teams, this was the reason for the failure. The ecstasy of two summers ago compared with this loss was indeed tough to accept for the golden girl of Canadian football.
Outside the stadium there were smiles, the content creators and sport bulletins got their final sound bites from the fans, and the party continued at the nearby Pink Lemonade bar as current and former players mingled with the active fans, Chloe Logarzo happy to join in with the chants.
“Trust in me when I say…”
Super fan Fatima’s earlier injury in action was a distant memory as she joined the festivities. This was one part celebration of a wonderful night in Melbourne, and one part planning for what comes next, with logistics required to get this whole vibe to the next game, a probable match-up with Denmark back at the often-soulless cavern of Stadium Australia.
The following morning, with Craig Foster on morning TV urging all fans with the “golden ticket” for Monday’s round of 16 game to get behind their team, all we had was memories of an amazing night.
The FIFA World Cup journey didn’t end in the group stages, did it? All you had to do was believe.
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