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.
