Final thoughts
Where to start with that, or indeed finish. Kerr predicted “goals, goals, goals” mid-week in camp and she was not wrong, but the wrong side of 5-2 is not a good day at the office, no matter how you spin it. Australia were disjointed, lacked fluency, repeatedly exposed on the flanks. They played superbly in the first 10 minutes until conceding the first goal, which appeared to challenge the players’ mental resilience, and then never really recovered. There was one particularly bright spark in Goad, who was thrown on her international debut far earlier than expected after Roestbakken’s untimely injury, and more than held her own throughout. The surety of Gielnik’s finishing is another positive.
Of course, there are mitigating factors. Germany had already played together twice this year, and also played the Euro 2022 qualifiers late last year. On top of that, the majority of their squad still play in the Frauen-Bundesliga, which cannot be bad for style and cohesion. The Matildas, conversely, had less than a week in camp together, for the first time in a tick under 400 days, and were missing several key players.
What this match did show, though, is that the Matildas lack depth, especially when considering that of their counterparts. Four of Germany’s squad were pulled just a few hours before kick-off after defender Felicitas Rauch tested positive for Covid-19 and close-contact teammates Lena Oberdorf, Sara Doorsoun and Svenja Huth were also forced into quarantine. Ellie Carpenter’s Lyon teammate Dzsenifer Marozsan had sime days earlier withdrawn citing the same Covid reasons she did. In the end, Voss-Tecklenburg started four players with five or fewer caps, including goal-scorers Sjoeke Nüsken and Jule Brand (the debutant also added an assist).
The Matildas’ “reality check”, as Gustavsson put it, is timely, for they have three days before playing potentially an even tougher side in the fourth-ranked Netherlands. Under Ante Milicic they lost 3-0 to the Dutch in a 2019 World Cup warm-up match before the latter progressed to the final of the tournament. And, unlike Germany, the Netherlands have most of their key players. The Australians on Arsenal’s books will know formidable forward Vivianne Miedema well, though probably not as well as the Matildas playing for rival WSL sides.
So they will get another crack this week, and then have one Fifa window before the Olympics. The timing is tight. Thanks for joining me, and keep an eye out in the morning for Samantha Lewis’ analysis. Ciao.
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Kerr is visibly frustrated during her post-match interview but is also honest:
“It was difficult. New players, new coach, a lot of people haven’t played at international level ... it was difficult. Obviously we lost and we came here to win ... we’ve got to learn from it and have a few days so we’ve got to regroup.
“I don’t think we were very good. We need to pick it up. Obviously they had some good players, but it’s tough. A year out, new coach, new style of play, it’s tough. We’ve just got to adapt quickly. We’re not making excuses for ourselves. We’ve got to be better and make the most of what we have. This next game is going to be very important for us.”
Here are Gustavsson’s frank thoughts:
“First off I’m very impressed with Germanys performance. We played an outstanding team tonight, so hats off to them. Sometimes we play a team that plays better and they were a class better than us tonight.
“We have to look at this way, what do we do with the time we have? We couldn’t gone to some easy place and got some easy result and had buy-in from players and fans and so forth. This is what we need. We need this reality check. We need to see where we’re at right now. Is it tough? Yes, but we need that toughness to know exactly what we need to do in order to prepare for the Olympics.”
Full-time! Germany 5-2 Australia
90+4 mins Germany are just moving the ball about now, shifting it sideways and back, then back again, marking time as the referee checks her watch before finally blowing the whistle. Phew.
Goal! Germany 5-2 Australia
90+2 mins Checker receives the ball from Raso and flies down the right flank. Her first-time cross is met by Gielnik’s head and that is that. Frohms leaps, but leaps in vain.
Goal! Germany 5-1 Australia
90+1 mins This time it’s Dallmann. She draws out Brock and Checker and pummels a left-footed footed shot into the opposite top corner against the momentum of her body.
90 mins Another debut is in the off with Alexandra Huynh, who plays for Napoli, on the field in central defence in place of Polkinghorne. Time is ticking. Four minutes of stoppage-time.
87 mins Germany orchestrate an attack that’s up there with their best this game aesthetically but does not elicit anything another number on the scoreboard. Time ticking down now. Talking about Germany’s young players, Brand is 18, plays Hoffenheim and could well, based on this performance, soon be a fixture in the national team.
Goal! Germany 4-1 Australia
82 mins Raso is on the run and Emma Checker, who has just come on, is making herself known with a throw-in but it generates no momentum. Blimey, Brand rattles the crossbar. Shortly thereafter Australia are off down the other end and Gielnik has the consolation. She fights off a couple of defenders. One half trips and the ball drops a little fortuitously but the new Vittsjo GIK signing makes the chance count with a straightforward finish.
78 mins The Matildas, now up against it, are not a picture of composure. The visitors keep looking for Kerr and, to a lesser extent, Foord, but with not much of a plan of how to get there. Kerr has had 24 touches of the ball. She’s doing her best but the defenders have been more apart of the action. Germany nearly score a fifth though the shot sails wide.
75 mins Another sub for Germany with Sophia Kleinherne replacing Hegering. Kleinherne, 20, plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, and there is so much young talent coming up through Germany’s ranks. Dire straits for Australia now.
72 mins Schüller is down now, looks to be clutching her knee though it’s unclear what the issue is. Voss-Tecklenburg looks anxious as medics come to her assistance. She looks in a lot of pain.
70 mins Sayer sashays the ball to Gielnik and Kerr is there but it comes to nothing. Yikes, Raso and Dallmann have clashed heads. Raso doesn’t hold back, fully committed despite having broken her back on the field a couple of years ago.
67 mins Kennedy seems to have assumed the role of holding midfielder, the Tottenham centre-back doing what she needs to in the circumstances. One does wonder what sort of a difference Catley and Carpenter would have made here.
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64 mins Luik almost tees up Kerr but Germany scramble clear. Signs of pressing here but still the hosts are away on a counter and straight into a fourth goal. Brand adds an assist to her goal, running onto a through ball and sending in a cross for Freigang to finish.
Goal! Germany 3-0 Australia
63 mins Gielnik whips in another, from the left this time and, upon receiving the ball back, wallops it straight into Frohms’ gloves. Feldkamp chests it down, lays off to Nusken and Brand is off and away and executes like a player who has been on the international stage quite a bit longer than a couple of minutes. That was a lovely goal, and it’ll be tough for Australia to come back from here.
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61 mins Voss-Tecklenburg makes her own substitution, bringing off Magull and Waßmuth and introducing Linda Dallmann and Jule Brand. Australia press hard behind Kerr and have a corner. Gielnik sends it in and Foord forces another corner.
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57 mins Germany just don’t seem to be feeling even a smidgeon of pressure. They are absorbing everything that comes their way and patiently locating frailties. Case in point, Nusken runs Luik into the area and cuts back for Magull right in front of goal and is in. Well, she would be if not for a phenomenal save from Williams. Kennedy blocks the follow-up and there will be no third goal for now. Fowler has just taken her leave, replaced by Laura Brock, while van Egmond makes way for Amy Sayer.
53 mins Germany take an unorthodox corner and are quickly shimmied out of danger areas by a defensively firmer Australia. Foord has space and she’s calm but actually has more time than she realises and doesn’t use it. The ball is still spending a large proportion of time in the Matildas’ third and Magull tries her luck in the box but Luik has her covered.
50 mins Now Germany are flying down the right, moving the ball with ease to Laura Freigang, who has come on after the break. Waßmuth has a crack but there’s a deflection and the ball flies out.
Goal! Germany 2-0 Australia
47 mins Germany are away down the left flank via a pass in behind and a chipped ball over the top. Now Däbritz is overlapping and she’s dribbling and dribbling, and she’s surely too close to the byline now to cut it back but she does anyway, and it’s quickfire and piercing. The kind of piercing that puts Goad out of position in the goalmouth as Hendrich pings it home.
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What did we make of that? More importantly, what did Gustavsson make of that? The Matildas have not had a foothold on this game thus far and the former US assistant coach
Germany’s chances have come quickly and effortlessly and Australia have seemed to be sitting back somewhat, waiting for their opponents to come to them. This is very different to side that played a high line under Ante Milicic. Germany made 10 shots to Australia’s none in the first half.
Half-time! Germany 1-0 Australia
45+1 mins Schüller backheels at the corner flag but green and gold defenders are alert to it, but now Schüller is through again and that would surely have been a second goal had Goad not exerted pressure right when pressure was needed. Williams looked to be beaten as Goad blocks just as she dives the wrong way.
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42 mins Raso tries to clear once and succeeds the second time but Germany are back in possession shortly thereafter and Däbritz scoops the ball up and over the Matildas’ defence. It is perfect for Magull, who whips out some fancy footwork but the ball bounces up and over the goal. She is called offside but hang on, replays seem to indicate she was actually on. The linesperson might be relieved she hadn’t finished that.
40 mins Kennedy is consummate in playing forward with some one-touch football between her and Aivi Luik, before Foord and Gielnik move it further forward still. Kathrin Hendrich steals the ball back but that was a promising passage fo play. Williams takes her turn dashing off her line to save a German counter-attack.
36 mins Germany have not been beaten only twice in their last 30 games. The majority play in the Frauen-Bundesliga which is in stark comparison to this Australian side now largely based in other European countries. Magull is on the ball now and plays it at a lovely angle to Krumbiegel, who draws a reflex save from Williams.
33 mins Raso is pick-pocketed again. She is so fast, the ultimate winger, but tracking back in this position must be a baptism of fire at short notice. Williams is under pressure on her line and just manages to get a foot to it. Van Egmond is back on the ball and Kerr is onside this time but, wow, that is some goalkeeping from Frohms, who rushes well off her line.
30 mins Fowler takes a sharp turn to start an attack that never really eventuates. Germany follow suit and Foord can see Kerr loitering. The striker is trying to hold her run but goes too early and the flag is up. No VAR here!
28 mins Fowler finds Emily van Egmond. It gets away from her but falls for Kerr, whose first touch lets her down. And Germany are at it again with a delightful ball that splits Australia’s defence, only to realise Krumbiegel is offside. Promising start for Goad, who held her line.
25 mins Hegering appears to have ankle-tapped herself and sort of taken Kerr down with her. Both are fine, play on. That opening goal was the first real time the Matildas looked exposed against this side, but they haven’t really got back into a groove since then.
22 mins Däbritz has the ball at her feet now for a free-kick, and it’s a peach, a nice curler that Hegering can’t quite get her head to.
19 mins Nusken tries a through ball to Hendrich, who chases but cannot turn it into anything meaningful. The Germans are settling into this game nicely, and Fowler is having to do an awful lot of work tracking back.
15 mins Roestbakken is already off with an injury, a cruel blow so early on. But it means an international debut for Beatrice Goad.
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Goal! Germany are ahead!
11 mins Sjoeke Nusken scores her first international goal in brutal fashion. The whole passage was brutal, really. A throw-in on the right starts the attack and Lea Schüller has her opponents flitting this way and that, has the Matildas facing backwards and in a fruitless foot race. Polkinghorne has no chance, forcing Kennedy to hightail it towards the byline but cops a nutmeg for her efforts and the ball is cut back to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Nusken, who wrong-foots Williams with a first time finish into the right corner.
11 mins A sea of red floods Kerr as she’s on the ball. This could happen quite a bit. and Germany defending stoutly, quick backpass to Merle Frohms and it’s cleared.
9 mins Leonie Maier is working the ball in and out and Raso is outfoxed by a charging Paulina Krumbiegel, who takes a shot at Lydia Williams’ near post that shaves the outside of the net.
7 mins: Luik finds Fowler and they’re harrying but the foray amounts to nothing. Germany are back in possession now and playing their way out through Sara Däbritz, probably the highest-profile player in this young-looking side.
And we're under way!
4 mins: Audacious start for Australia against Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s Germany and Raso is marauding up the right flank before possession is turned over. They unsuccessfully attempt to catch the hosts offside.
Here is how Gustavvson has solved the full-back quandary. Hayley Raso will play on the right and on the left will be Karly Roestbakken, who made her debut in France 2019 and has six caps.
The other interesting inclusion in this starting XI is Mary Fowler, who is still only 18 and slips into the attack behind Kerr and between Foord and Emily Gielnik. Let’s see what her days at Montpellier have done for her game.
STARTING XI
— Westfield Matildas (@TheMatildas) April 10, 2021
Here’s how we line up against @DFB_Frauen in #GERvAUS!#WeAreMatildas #GoMatildas pic.twitter.com/nCYkLNy3vH
Quite a few big names out for Germany, including Alexandra Popp.
Unsere Start-11 für 🇩🇪🇦🇺
— DFB-Frauenfußball (@DFB_Frauen) April 10, 2021
WIR #IMTEAM 🇩🇪 #GERAUS pic.twitter.com/XDoJXF9Phv
Preamble
There has been much talk about the fact we are little more than 100 days out from the Olympics, that time is of the essence and camps and friendlies a precious commodity. For many national teams, though, this relative resumption is also about time passed, about how long it has been since their last match.
For Australia’s women’s team, it has been a long time between drinks – 395 days at my count, since the Matildas played their last match at the Olympic qualifiers in March of last year. They were, incidentally, the same qualifiers which were hastily relocated to Australia from Wuhan – ground zero of Covid-19 – before the WHO had even named the 2019 novel coronavirus Covid-19. Point being, this group have not shared the same side of a field in yonks. Expect some rustiness, some blowing away of the proverbial cobwebs.
Said cobwebs will be blown away in Wiesbaden, the location of the Matildas’ first outing under new coach Tony Gustavsson. And against world No 2 Germany, no less. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s Germany have had the benefit of two friendlies this year, beating Belgium 2-0 in February before losing 2-1 to 2019 World Cup finalists the Netherlands – who Australia play on Wednesday. This is possibly the Matildas’ toughest match in some time.
That is not to say Australia’s personnel are not in good individual form. “Good” is something of an understatement for the recent output of Sam Kerr, who has 17 goals from 19 WSL games for leaders Chelsea, including a hat-trick against Birmingham City five days ago (there was another last month in the League Cup final win over Bristol City).
Many of the usual suspects are in Gustavsson’s squad but he has two sizeable defensive holes to fill. First-choice left-back Catley was already ruled out after her problematic hamstring compounded a torrid time with injury since joining Arsenal. And this week right-back Ellie Carpenter withdrew after a Covid outbreak at Lyon. They are two positions out and out run by these two and with not all that much depth.
Also absent is Amy Harrison (Covid-19 protocols), Katrina Gorry (pregnancy), Elise Kellond-Knight (injury) and Kyah Simon (injury).
