Key events
Summary
Jonathan Howcroft
Thank you for joining me tonight. We’ll be back again on Tuesday for the second leg of this double header when we salute Christine Sinclair for one final time.
In the meantime, Joey Lynch’s match report is well worth a read and look out for further analysis over the coming days.
Tonight’s match report in 14 words:
Blood your newbies by putting them WITH your experienced squad not INSTEAD of them. #CANvAUS
— Annie Papas (@anniepapas) December 2, 2023
“Without wanting to overreact to a friendly match, that performance and result don’t do much for the Commbank Matildas brand at the end of 2023. It won’t do much for the morale of the players who started, nor their relationship with the Starting XI (imagine what those players will think now).’’ Absolutely, Chris Paraskevas, it looked a poor strategy before kick-off and now looks like one with the potential to have significant consequences.
Andy Harper is seething. He called this early on, and was proven 100% correct. “I wonder what the experiment was for. I don’t understand why we needed to go down this path in this game. It is extraordinarily disappointing… it was cannon fodder.”
A cold, wet, and odd night in British Columbia ends with a thumping victory for Canada. The hosts did everything asked of them for an hour against an experimental Matildas XI that looked out of their depth and could have easily been more than five down before a raft of changes around the hour mark introduced more senior bodies and steadied the ship.
“When you make bold changes and experiments with so many young debutants, it is so difficult for them to shine,” laments former Matilda Amy Chapman on Australian TV. “If we look at the stars that have been born recently, like Kyra Cooney-Cross, she has grown alongside Gorry and those kinds of players who have allowed her to develop a game. It is really difficult to learn a lot out of the game today. I appreciate friendlies are the time to try these things, but not sure we have a huge amount to take away from the game today.”
Fulltime: Canada 5-0 Australia
Canada begin their long farewell of Christine Sinclair with a well-deserved 5-0 victory against an Australian side that coach Tony Gustavsson got badly wrong.
89 mins: Not long to go in Langford.
87 mins: Australia are finishing the stronger of the two sides with Kennedy enjoying an eye-catching cameo at the back, not only defending, but bringing the ball out and spraying passes.
85 mins: The floated delivery is headed clear but only as far as Gorry on the edge of the box who should do better with her left-footed snapshot.
84 mins: Raso’s pace and persistence forces Australia’s first corner of the night!
83 mins: Excellent play in midfield by the veterans Schmidt and Sinclair and from the latter’s through-ball St-Georges fails to find an end product under pressure from Kennedy.
81 mins: Lovely move from Australia. Gorry begins it with a brave pass from the base of midfield to the superb Fowler who controls and spins away from two Canadians. She exchanges passes with Sayer on the left but can’t capitalise in the box. The difference between the two versions of the Matildas is stark and I’m not sure Gustavsson has bridged the gap with his approach tonight.
78 mins: As Raso comes on for Yallop, the game is now on Australia’s terms. Gorry and Cooney-Cross have been the main difference makers in midfield with Fowler providing spark between the lines. This is now when Gustavsson can learn something useful about the fringe members of his squad with the likes of Sayer and Nevin still on the field.
76 mins: This is a different Australian team now and suddenly Gorry and Cooney-Cross and barking instructions, coaching Nevin into playing the ball out of defence and through the lines with simple one-touch passing. The move is enlivened by Fowler in the final third but comes to nothing.
74 mins: And now Fowler has Australia’s first shot on target – smashing straight at Sheridan from the edge of the box after good work in midfield by Gorry.
73 mins: The impact of Australia’s subs can be seen with Kennedy showing the confidence to ping a quality pass out of defence to break the Canada press. It’s a ball that owes a lot to the bravery and technique of Fowler, who shows, controls and spins effortlessly near the touchline to send a ball into the channel for Yallop to chase.
71 mins: The Matildas have still yet to register a shot. They now at least don’t look outclassed in general play.
69 mins: More substitutions for Canada, including the introduction of Sophie Schmidt, another long-serving Canadian about to call time on her career.
67 mins: Suddenly the action resembles a real top-level international with both sides feeling each other out at arm’s length in midfield.
65 mins: Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Fowler, and Kennedy are all on for Australia, and immediately the Matildas build something resembling an attack. Some members of that starting XI thrown to the wolves must be watching in fury.
63 mins: That goal prompts a flurry of substitutions, the most important of which is the entry of Christine Sinclair for the penultimate time in international football.
GOAL! Canada 5-0 Australia (Leon 62)
More awful defending from Australia and Canada have five! Huitema goes around the outside of Luik on the right and her cross-shot is palmed into the air by Micah. It’s kept alive at the far post with a neat centring header, one that invites Leon to bundle the ball over the line.
59 mins: The game remains one of Canada playing at high intensity and Australia drifting around like scattered autumn leaves.
57 mins: “The Matildas (and Tony G) have been guilty of picking the same players every year. It costs us at major tournaments for various reasons,” bemoans James Paraskevas. “I think these players are good but it needs to be a blend. Tony G thinks he’s playing PlayStation 2 or Football Manager 2007. There’s just no balance with this guy.” No Australian coach has been afforded better players or better circumstances to succeed than Gustavsson, but his decision making at times has not reflected well on his judgement.
GOAL! Canada 4-0 Australia (Awujo 55)
This is getting very very ugly indeed for the Matildas. Rose is too quick and strong down the right for Sayer, winning the contest in midfield then bursting into the open space with great pace. The square ball finds its way to Awujo who drives an unconvincing low shot that evades Micah and nestles in the bottom corner.
54 mins: This is already “one of those nights to put behind us” for Australia, showcased by Yallop twisting one way, then the other, deep in her own half, only to concede a throw-in.
52 mins: The second half is playing out exactly as the first with Canada dominating possession and Australia chasing shadows. The scoreline could be anything, but the hosts will need to make better decisions in the final third than Leon just did, hammering into the side-netting from an impossible angle.
GOAL! Canada 3-0 Australia (Lacasse, 49)
The Matildas struggle to clear their lines again – Hunter this time dwelling on the ball on the edge of her own box – and Lacasse simply bullies the Australian off the ball before stroking a calm finish out of Micah’s reach.
Bad to worse for Tony Gustavsson’s experiment.
48 mins: Canada straight back into their work and they come agonisingly close to a third! Leon curls over a beautiful free-kick from the right that Gilles meets a couple of metres out at the far post, but she heads narrowly wide. Not to worry…
46 mins: Nichelle Prince gets a breather after her first-half brace. Jordyn Huitema is a handy replacement. While for Australia Alex van Egmond offers some experience in midfield in place of the injured Remy Siemsen.
With the rain continuing to pour down in Langford, the teams are back out for the second half.
“I wasn’t expecting much from an experimental line-up, but not a single player has really pressed their case for a starting spot,” emails Chris Paraskevas. “Making wholesale changes to personnel is one thing: getting them to work cohesively is quite a different challenge. Plans need to be adjusted to ge the best out of the likes of Chidiac, otherwise, what’s the point?”
I think that question at the end will be the postscript to this match. Gustavsson has set up this XI to fail, only hampering his own plans to find squad members for tournaments further down the road.
By contrast, it was an abject half from the Matildas. Echoing Andy Harper’s comments pregame, by selecting such an unfamiliar line-up, it’s hard to identify anything useful that Tony Gustavsson will have gleaned from that performance. There were no patterns of play and Australians across every line were caught in possession.
Excellent from Canada who were faster, stronger, and more decisive all over the park. Prince stole the show but Leon and Lacasse were also dangerous, while the midfielders in red were utterly dominant.
Half-time: Canada 2-0 Australia
Canada dominated from start to finish and deservedly lead at the break. It could be a lot more than 2-0 but they will have to make do with Prince’s double against an experimental Australian line-up.
44 mins: 2-0 flatters the Matildas who have been comprehensively outplayed.
GOAL! Canada 2-0 Australia (Prince 43)
Canada go straight back down the other end, and after Lacasse has a shot blocked on the turn, Lawrence skips around the outside on the right, pulling the ball back for Prince to finish first-time at the near post. Micah will not be happy to see replays of that one, but the speed of the move undid Australia and caught the goalkeeper wrong-footed.
42 mins: Poor from Siemsen, who had space to run into with the ball at her feet, but she dawdled in possession and was easily robbed…
40 mins: Polkinghorne does well to block Prince as the through-ball to Leon threatened to set the star striker free. Australia cannot retain possession though and Canada are soon back on attack.
39 mins: Leon drags a shot on the turn past the far post after a nice build-up work from Prince.
38 mins: Canada’s urgency in midfield is too hot for Australia to handle. The press is snappy and aggressive, forcing the Matildas into precise one-touch football that they are unable to execute on this difficult surface.
36 mins: Australia have started to even things up around the pitch in the past few minutes and they earn their first attacking set-piece of the night when Wheeler is upended by Rose. Canada deal with the delivery with the minimum of fuss.
34 mins: Australia’s brief flashes of attacking football have come mostly from Chidiac driving through midfield, and she dovetails with Sayer to fashion the brightest opening of the game so far for the Matildas, but Canada do well to scramble clear on the edge of their box.
32 mins: And it’s another set-piece that almost brings a goal. The aerial contest results in a bouncing ball that Buchanan spins and hacks towards goal but it takes a deflection and spins agonisingly wide of the post.
31 mins: A couple of phases of play later Leon rasps a drive from the right edge of the box that Micah has to parry behind for another corner.
30 mins: Australia get a rare respite, but it’s brief, with Polkinghorne and Luik again lacking options from the centre of defence. The turnover is inevitable.
28 mins: Micah is forced into another strong save, this time from a Gilles header at the far post after a well struck corner. Poor in open play, poor from set-pieces, this has been a dreadful half-hour for the Matildas who are lucky to only be one down.
27 mins: The game is being played entirely in Australia’s half with the teal jerseys desperately chasing shadows. Relief comes only in the shape of throw-ins.
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