It wasn’t been the start our Matildas team wanted yesterday with the 3-0 loss v Germany but we do need to move on with Zambia up next on 3am Monday AM followed by Team USA also 3am Thursday morning. A 2nd placed finish would be nice considering how much the Tillies improved over these past few years including the 2023 Women’s World Cup, but scoring more goals from here including a possible draw or a close loss v Team USA might be enough to play depending on how good they are for the best of third like it was in Tokyo four years ago. That way, they can come from behind to play Finals again.
Credit to Germany who played really well with their dominant possession-based & expansive attack, having made good use of their corners by Giulia Gwinn that landed into the net twice (1 goal in the opening 45 & another goal later in the 2nd half) followed by a third goal via 1-2 touch from Jule Brand. One thing they need to watch though is their discipline that gave the opposition the opportunity to cash in where Germany overstepped the mark at times that could’ve been an extra 1-2 goals had the referee/VAR not ruled it as offside, etc. But so far, so good as the Germany women’s team need their full support all over France like they had at the 2016 Olympics in Rio across Brazil where they won the gold medal there v Sweden 2-1.
And for the Matildas, they tried their best to get the job done at times on the counter-attack both through open play and free-kicks as well as corners. However, they were nowhere near closer towards goal in an effort to strike one back past the keeper when it comes to the executions unfortunately. Plus, their defence has been sloppy at times including lost corners where Germany had a great sniff at them for the most part – no matter how many times Germany tries to shoot towards goal, which was too good for them to walk away with the win. This is a display the Matildas should’ve done better as if it’s their Final but getting over Zambia and hopefully a new-look Team USA side would hopefully give them a 2nd chance to play for an extended run in the knockout finals. Who knows? But they better avoid elimination first going into this weekend & next week.