Act III - Salvation
The next chapter in our story was to be written in the beautiful alpine city of Grenoble. Another very large Australian throng assembled at two pubs in the old town. It was raucous, mostly good humoured, occasionally disrespectful but nonetheless a peaceful and joyous pre-match warm up. There were many familiar faces in the crowd now – another team, spontaneously formed, flying under the radar traipsing around France in support of our Matildas.
And tonight was the night to sieze the initiative. Our opponent was the less fancied Jamaica, a team to be respected but nonetheless one we were expected to beat comfortably. Fast out of the blocks again the girls launched attack after attack at the Jamaican goal. This brought an early reward with Sam Kerr rising to meet an Emily Gielnik cross – she did have acres of space but the header was perfect, arcing over the keeper, under the crossbar into the net. 1-0 and cruisin’.
The remainder of the first half continued along the same theme: a dominant performance punctuated by another goal to Sam Kerr – this time a real goal scorer’s headed finish: perfect timing, perfectly directed. 2-0 and still cruisin’ at half time. It had been an almost perfect half.
But the Jamaican response was intelligent. For all their weakness at the back they have some fast, skilful players in their front line. They put this to good effect with a much more assertive attacking emphasis in the second half. Much better pressing in the midfield, aided by some sloppy Matildas’ passing was creating turnovers and meaningful counterattacks. In the 49th minute their breakthrough came – a beautifully finished goal to Havana Solaun that I found myself applauding – it was that good.
And suddenly our Matildas were searching for some answers. Jamaica created another two strong scoring chances, the first beaten away by Lydia Williams and the second shot flashing wide of the goal. Our team were looking mentally tired – several key players were showing the effects of 3 matches in 10 days.
And it was about then that I noticed the curious position we were in. Brazil and Italy, playing simultaneously in Valenciennes were still at 0-0 but if Brazil scored we would drop to 3rd in the group and a likely next match against host nation, France. We needed to get some more goals.
Enter Hayley Raso. In the 69th minute, the Australian substitute answered the call with a determined drive into the penalty area somehow making it past 2 defenders, then rifled in a low cross which the Jamaican defence found too hot to handle, and standing by to finish was (I know I am becoming repetitive) Sam Kerr! 3-1 but we were still vulnerable depending on what was happening in Valenciennes.
Five minutes later, my fears were realised when news came through that Marta had scored (again!), pushing her team into second spot and relegating the Matildas to third. Caitlin Foord had come on to liven things up on the left but the final decisive ball was proving elusive. In the end our salvation came from the most unlikely source, AND the most likely executor. A dreadful air swing by the Jamaican keeper allowed Sam Kerr, this time in the role of quick minded opportunistic poacher, to pounce and slot the ball into an unguarded net.
We saw out the game but there was still a nervous wait until the final result came through from Valenciennes. Eventually our second spot was confirmed. It was almost embarrassing to squeak through on the curious gift of an opponent’s air swing. By such minutae can fortunes swing – not quite the Verdi Opera, but the forces du destin were at play.
Reflecting on the match overall what we had seen was a master class by the Matildas’ leader. Maybe now the world will sit up and take notice of what we are banging on about. Sam Kerr is world class, the first Australian footballer to score a hat trick at a World Cup tournament, she has been instrumental in the last 6 goals scored by Australia in the tournament so far.
And so on to Nice for a difficult match up with Norway. The coaching staff have the difficult task of seeing through some player rotation from a team which is tired. Several key players have played all 270 minutes of the tournament and so far, and it was showing in their scratchy performance in the second half against Jamaica.
