The ball had barely left Cortnee Vine’s right boot and Tony Gustavsson and Mel Andreatta were already losing their minds, celebrating a stunner of a goal that opened the floodgates. To be any manager and assistant on the bench five months out from a World Cup would surely feel fraught. But to be a manager and assistant under pressure, five months out from a World Cup which they are co-hosting, might do something altogether different to the levels of cortisol in one’s body.
There were a lot of eyes on CommBank Stadium on Sunday night, scrutinising a rematch against Spain and wondering if the Matildas would confirm last June’s 7-0 loss was just an experimental anomaly. Searching for a sliver of evidence that there is reason to hope come late July, that Gustavsson’s at times worrying two-year tenure was finally closing in on its objective.
It arrived 11 minutes in, when Vine took that strike first time from outside the box and swept the ball into the top corner. By half-time Clare Polkinghorne and Caitlin Foord had scored too, and it would have been four had Sam Kerr not been denied by a marginal offside call. Australia effectively put Spain to the sword in a remarkable 45 minutes that finally exhibited a coherent, aggressive team unit befitting the individual talent of its players.
Whisper it, but the Matildas may be very good again – and it is a very good time for them to be getting good again. Of course, there are caveats: Spain found a way back into the game and scored twice in the last 30 minutes; they dominated all key metrics with two-thirds possession and 19 (five on target) shots to 14 (four); the visitors are so deep in internal strife that 15 of their best players have staged a mutiny and were not on the field; the Cup of Nations is a series of glorified friendlies.
Now that is out of the way it can also be noted that Spain is a richly talented national team with a depth so enviable they are still ranked seventh by Fifa some five months after the troubles came to a head. And that is without considering what Australia did to ensure they won. The way Kerr and Foord – both in formidable form – led the line in seamless anticipation of the other. The way the 4-4-2 formation allowed Hayley Raso and Vine to roam the flanks and morph into a front four (the former assisted the latter’s opening goal). And the way Katrina Gorry continues to cement her starting place in the midfield and Kyra Cooney-Cross is comfortable next to her.
Right-back Ellie Carpenter appears on the verge of returning, having played her first minutes for Lyon since coming back from an ACL injury, and in her place Gustavsson has been blooding young defenders Charlotte Grant and Clare Hunt. On the whole, the entire XI’s every move was made at breakneck pace, pressing high and winning back possession for counter-attacks. At the very least, the performance signalled a step in the right direction, perhaps even a sign of things to come.
“We need to be humble and not get carried away here,” Gustavsson said. “I think there’s moments of brilliance in that first half, especially how we defended against a Spain team that is brilliant on the ball. It’s an important reminder that we need to play all the way through to the last second. When you concede in extra-time it puts a little bit of extra emotion ... but we can’t let the last goal cloud our sight of the performance.”
Since being appointed in 2021, Gustavsson has deliberately exposed the Matildas to the world’s top-ranked sides. The results have not always made for pretty reading, and by the time he had overseen three wins from 16 games in 2021, followed by a premature Asian Cup exit the following January, questions were being asked about his capacity to bring out the best in a team which has slipped from world No 4 in 2017 to No 12.
Since two losses to Canada in September, the Matildas have won six straight, scored a total of 20 goals and kept three clean sheets. They can win the Cup of Nations with a win over Jamaica in Newcastle on Wednesday night, in what would constitute a nice morale-booster before continuing to build towards their World Cup opener against Ireland on 20 July.
“The internal belief in this tough process that I put them through has been there, all the time – even in losses,” Gustavsson said. “But I think their confidence is going to rise from this. What I’m most proud of is the team effort. They did it together. they worked for each other. They played together.”
