It’s been a wonderful week already for Australian football after wins to the Matildas and the Olyroos to start their Tokyo Olympics campaign.
The Matildas had a dominant first half against New Zealand on Wednesday and while the second half was less convincing they held their nerve after a late goal to from the Kiwis to win 2-1.
Sweden, on paper, looks to be a much tougher assignment in this Group G clash.
They’re ranked fifth in the world on the FIFA rankings but as we’ve seen so far in both the women’s and men’s competition favoritism doesn’t count for a lot, especially in an empty stadium.
However, Sweden ARE the real deal and they showed that by defeating one of the powerhouses in women’s football USA 3-0.
The Matildas will have to be on their guard to stop Stina Blackstenius who scored two goals against America. It could be an old-fashioned shootout with plenty of firepower for the Matildas including Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Kyah Simon and Sam Kerr.
The win against the Football Ferns was an important one for the Matildas. It ended a five game losing run in 2021 and was the first victory under new boss Tony Gustavsson.
The three points also put Australia in a better position to progress to the knockout stages; the top two teams from every group plus the two best third-placed teams qualify.
Tameka Yallop opened the scoring for the Matildas in the 20th minute thanks to some neat work in the build from Kyah Simon and Sam Kerr. The Matildas captain then went on to double the lead in the 33rd minute, heading home from a Steph Catley corner.
While Sweden and Australia played out a 0-0 draw in a friendly last month, this match should be very different. It will take another strong performance from Australia to take any points from this clash.
After the New Zealand game, captain Kerr was happy with the performance as well as getting her name on the scoresheet.
“We feel good. First win in the tournament, just our first step in this journey, so to get the win was the most important thing today. It’s a confidence booster,” Kerr said.
“I would have obviously liked to score more and put the game to bed a lot sooner but we controlled the game. We let them in at times but the most important thing was the win. When you score as a striker, you’re always happy.”
“If we win the next game we almost guarantee ourselves to go through. So, the most important game is the next game, and we always knew that if we won today, we’d put ourselves in a good position to get a confidence boost and win the next game,” she explained.
Kick-off: 6:30pm (AEST)
Venue: Saitama Stadium, Tokyo
TV: Channel Seven
Online: 7plus
Teams
Sweden
1. Hedvig Lindahl 2. Jonna Andersson 3. Emma Kullberg 4. Hanna Glas 5. Hanna Bennison 6. Magdalena Eriksson 7. Madelen Janogy 8. Lina Hurtig 9. Kosovare Asllani 10. Sofia Jakobsson 11. Stina Blackstenius 12. Jennifer Falk 13. Amanda Ilestedt 14. Nathalie Björn 15. Olivia Schough 16. Filippa Angeldal 17. Caroline Seger 18. Fridolina Rolfö 19. Anna Anvegård 20. Julia Roddar 21. Rebecka Blomqvist 22. Zecira Musovic
Matildas
1. Lydia Williams, 2. Sam Kerr, 3. Kyra Cooney-Cross, 4. Clare Polkinghorne, 5. Aivi Luik, 6, Chloe Logarzo, 7. Steph Catley, 8. Elise Kellond-Knight, 9. Caitlin Foord, 10. Emily van Egmond, 11. Mary Fowler, 12. Ellie Carpenter, 13. Tameka Yallop, 14. Alanna Kennedy, 15. Emily Gielnik, 16, Hayley Raso, 17. Kyah Simon, 18. Teagan Micah, 19. Courtney Nevin, 20. Charlotte Grant, 21. Laura Brock, 22. Mackenzie Arnold
Mark
Guest
Your not much of a fan if you stop supporting the team because of something the administrators did to the team!
bungeye
Roar Rookie
They got rid of their coach when they were top 5 in the world! Make no mistake, this was self inflicted. They were the only Aussie sporting team I had high hopes for, the darlings of Australia-- Not anymore!
Mark
Guest
Do you have stopped following them, but here you are commenting about their match 5 minutes after it finishes, and then trying to blame other people for sure undermining them? Not sure who those people are?
Grem
Roar Rookie
You beauty - you're usually wrong we! We needed your analysis again to get our team back on track. While you're at it - how will the Olyroos go against Spain?
Micko
Roar Rookie
Marissa, NoMates is just a kiwi troll. Just ignore them. :thumbup:
Marissa Lordanic
Expert
We can't wallow too long on this result as is the nature of the Olympic tournament. Keep your eyes peeled for some analysis from me on The Roar to try and make more sense of the game we just watched. Until then there's a few more women's football games on today to wrap your eyes around. Let's meet back here on Tuesday evening for Australia's clash against the USA, shall we?
bungeye
Roar Rookie
I stopped following the Matilda's ever since the coach debacle. You get a feeling the Matilda's will never be successful, when people want to undermine their success.
Marissa Lordanic
Expert
Reckon Micah was sold down the river on a few occasions by her defence rather than error on her part. The pens though are something that needs to be worked on.
Marissa Lordanic
Expert
Kennedy incredibly lucky to be on the pitch. A proper stomp on the ankle that.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
Matildas will crash out at the group stage, cant take pens and awful goal keeping.
Marissa Lordanic
Expert
FT SWE 4 AUS 2 After the sugar rush of the New Zealand result, the crash from this one feels brutal. Australia wasn't just in it a times, but looked really solid. Sweden was able to pounce on the Matildas defensive lapses, proved to be clinical, and then really kicked into the next gear. Kerr's missed pen definitely hurts but it wasn't the reason for the loss.
Clear as mud
Guest
Red card…
Grem
Roar Rookie
Do or die game - hopefully we can do it. Their team is fighting their board over equal pay so perhaps they're not at their best.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Heard Ian Thorpe giving his opinion on a referee’s decision a while ago. He knows as much about football as Todd Woodbridge did about cricket on Channel 9 a few years ago. Overall the commentary on this game is pathetically amateurish.
Marissa Lordanic
Expert
SIX MINUTES ADDED ON. Time for at least one more goal?
Bob
Guest
This'd be 4-4 if Sam Kerr was switched on. Two bad misses for a player of her quality.
Marissa Lordanic
Expert
87' SWE 4 AUS 2 The ball from Fowler was sensational but the finish from Kerr wasn't there with Lindahl making herself big once again. Emily Gielnik enters the game for Kyah Simon, can she make an impact late on?
Grem
Roar Rookie
Going for the goal means you're a chance to concede - and we did.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Come on New Zealand - knock over the USA.
Bob
Guest
We've been terrible since our second goal. Looks like we'll be heading home early, because there's no way we're beating the US.