The honeymoon is over for the Matildas as fans turn on the national women’s team after they narrowly defeated bottom-ranked Zambia in a stunning result on Sunday at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
After Germany went down 3-0, it was a must-win game for the Tillies, who fell behind 5-2 to the 63rd-ranked nation and had to leave their Olympic campaign on life support.
However, a combination of some clever changes, an increase in intensity and a series of terrible blunders from the Zambian goalkeeper saw the Matildas released from prison with a 6-5 scoreline.
“I don’t think I’ve ever covered a more chaotic, emotional or crazy football match. I still don’t know how the Matildas survived,” broadcaster Lucy Zelić posted.
While the win keeps them in the running, fans are wondering what is wrong with the team, which looks so weak compared to the performance that earned them a historic fourth place at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
And they didn’t mince their words.
‘Matildas are embarrassing. Why don’t you compete in the Olympics in competitive shape?’ someone asked.
‘Matildas are only now celebrating beating Zambia – after a comeback – and that’s not encouraging… is there something wrong with the selection?’ asked another.
‘They won 6-5 against a team they really should have beaten 6-0, given the pedestal they are on. [goalkeeper Mackenzie] ‘Arnold made a surprise, we were just lucky their keeper had a worse game,’ another fan commented.
And yet another wrote: ‘I love the Tillies but their play this morning was appalling and rightly criticised.’
A win is a win but the Matildas conceded five goals before they kicked into high gear and secured a vital victory over Zambia
Zambia’s Racheal Kundananji (front) and Barbra Banda (not pictured) blasted holes in the Matildas defence at will in the first half
The look on the face of Matildas star Ellie Carpenter says it all in a match the Aussies should have won comfortably instead of being put under immense pressure by the Zambians.
Even Matildas coach Tony Gustavson was blunt in his assessment of the match.
“This was one of the craziest games we’ve ever played,” Gustavsson said.
“I mean, how many times have these players done that? This is not the time to dwell on the fact that we conceded five goals, because that was obviously crap.”
Socceroos legend Robbie Slater agreed with the criticism, warning that improvements are needed against the United States if the Matildas are to progress.
“Let us not sugarcoat matters too much,” he wrote in his News Corp column.
‘If it hadn’t been for the poor Zambian goalkeeper, the Matildas would have lost.
‘Now it is up to them to use that extra trump card to ensure that the Olympic campaign does not go down in history as a disaster.’
Slater pointed to the Matildas’ slow start to the Tokyo Games, when they narrowly reached the knockout stages, beating Great Britain in the quarter-finals and losing 1-0 to Sweden in the semi-finals. This was evidence that they could bounce back.
“The Australians have a lot of problems to solve to match that trick,” he wrote.
‘The amount of space they gave not only to Zambia but also to Germany in their 3-0 loss last week was alarming.’
Australian football fans have not missed the Matildas and have criticised them for their performances so far at the Paris Olympics
However, Australian football legends Craig Foster and Mark Bosnich were more positive about the Matildas and their efforts to come from behind to win the goalscoring contest.
Foster wrote on social media: ‘The craziest game ever. The bravest achievement. Talk about never say die. Unbelievable.’
Bosnich described the improvements the Matildas had made after their 3-0 loss to Germany.
“The greatest game in the history of women’s football and one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen,” he said.
‘To be fair to the Tillies, you have to say they played a lot better than they did against Germany. Still not, not their best by a long shot. But they thought they were set up a lot better.
‘Hayley Raso played wide on one side in the first half and Caitlin Foord on the other side, which gave them a lot more width.’
Even Matildas manager Tony Gustavson said conceding five goals was ‘s**t’
“It’s so nice to be on the winning side in such entertaining matches,” Bosnich continued.
‘There comes a time in your sport when you’re staring into the abyss of what is truly a nightmare and the whole world is watching, and you have two choices.
‘You can fly away, hide and say, look, this is it… or you can fight back.
‘And the Matildas, they put up a good fight.’
