Australia 0 Mexico 1
The Matildas showed just how much work there is to come to transition from the old guard to the new wave in an unimpressive one-goal reverse at one of their favourite venues, McDonald Jones stadium in Newcastle, on Saturday night. The visiting Mexican team showed a determination and conviction that was sadly lacking from the home side, stout defending and sustained possession earning them the opportunity to deliver the killer blow in the closing moments as the home defence went AWOL. And it’s just as well Australia lost; a draw would have papered over the cracks and allowed Joe Montemurro to explain his way out of it. This tees up a marvellous second game on Tuesday night, and a chance to see what this Matildas team is truly made of.
At 4.45pm, the final whistle sounded on a superb 4-2 victory for West Ryde Rovers Over 45 Division 4 at Meadowbank Park; by 7.05pm we were parking the car at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle. Following a quick change in the car park, and an easy entry (as everyone was in already), ducking down one of the aisles allowed a quick view of the anthems before heading towards the Northern hill and the designated Active Bay, right down at the front. There were signs warning of the fact that this was a standing and singing area, but the miniature turnout from the burgeoning active community showed that this one was a tricky fixture to get to for most out-of-towners, an earlier than usual kick off and maybe just one friendly fixture too far. The tiny drum was not going to fill the stadium with noise, but when MMTV got her hands on it, at least it was going to try.
Mexico were shooting towards the Active Bay in the first half, but all the action was happening at the other end, the Matildas enjoying a lot of forward momentum without having an end product. The view from down at the front of the hill was absolutely terrible as usual (hey we’re not there to watch the game, we’re there to sing!); whenever the ball came close to the Matildas’ goal, the ball disappeared behind the advertising hoardings and you just had to guess what was happening. The first 15 minutes though was all Matildas up the other end, but we saw some unusually low-percentage passes into the box, Caitlin Foord guilty, and when Ellie Carpenter got some space she decided to pass instead of shoot. Sam Kerr headed one over but it came at her quickly, and Foord waltzed through from her own half to the penalty area, ignoring everyone and was easily stopped on the edge of the box.
As the half wore on, Mexico looked more and more dangerous. The misplaced confidence, even arrogance, of the Matildas’ players was easily countered by the crisp and decisive passing of the Mexico team. When Carpenter cleared a ball straight to the attacking team, Mexico had their first good chance, the ball fired wide, and when the home side tried to play out from the back they were again found out, Steph Catley able to clear after a calamitous giveaway. The free role of Amy Sayer wasn’t reaping rewards, and Mexico had another chance, a cheeky pirouette almost unlocking the Matildas’ defence, although we had to use our imagination to see the footwork until the big screen showed the replay. Alana Kennedy’s long raking ball to the advancing Kerr went in completely the opposite direction, but when Mary Fowler cleared up a Mexican attack, Foord and Kerr combined to set up Sayer, who hit the post with a seemingly scuffed effort, but the flag was already up.
A horrible passage of play at the back where Winonah Heatley and Alanna Kennedy both made unforced errors culminated in a huge switch from Kennedy to Kerr out left, but the attack ended with Kennedy somehow giving the ball away again, this time in the opponents’ penalty area. Fowler continued to look the main player on the field, Sayer was perhaps the other, but even she was guilty of playing overly hopeful balls around the defence that led to nothing. Mackenzie Arnold had to palm a shot away at the near post after some exquisite control and a low shot, Mexico with their tails up, but when Emily Van Egmond played in Carpenter, Australia had a great opportunity, the ball eventually falling to Kaitlyn Torpey whose stumbling shot was way wide of the goal. The half was concluded without additional time, Van Egmond giving the ball away with the last touch, and the players headed to the tunnel with a somewhat bemused crowd wondering where the goals would come from to unlock this game.
Time for a walk around the stadium – all the stadium facilities were open, the main issue though was the queue for the ladies’ bathroom – always the way when the female-heavy Matildas crowd are in town. The gents’ bathroom was a breeze, plenty of room at the trough, while the queue for everything else made the concourse quite an unpleasant place to be with people blocking the way every few metres. Ice creams seemed to have the biggest line, bizarrely enough, on a winter’s evening in New South Wales.
The half-time break must have been a little extended, as there was time to go right around the stadium and grab a bite to eat too; the second half was underway with the Matildas running towards us, Foord gifting possession to Mexico by holding onto the ball too long but the offside flag saved the day. Kerr was unusually shot-shy when presented with a run on goal, and the home team’s passing was a mixture of measured balls to feet, awful crosses and woeful giveaways. Van Egmond had a great opportunity on the edge of the area but got her shot all wrong, as the Mexican Wave started to circle the stadium to create an artificially hyped atmosphere – is that allowed when you’re playing Mexico? Carpenter gave one away and Mexico had a great chance, the young striker having an unfortunate bobble as she hit the shot (as we saw on the big screen) and the shot whistled past the corner of post and bar.
By now the Oi Oi Oi chants were multiplying, while the Active Bays were starting to get anxious about what they were seeing from their heroes. This was not the Matildas experience, but an exquisite outside-of-the-boot pass from Kennedy, impeccably controlled by Foord seemed to inject confidence. Kerr met a corner on the leap, but there was no power. Hayley Raso came on to rapturous applause, Sayer making her way off and around the field with a face of thunder. Mexico made a couple of subs in response, the stadium announcer not even trying to pronounce the names and only using their numbers – perhaps a bit of disrespect there? Kerr tried an audacious flick from a low cross from the right but the Mexican keeper was down to smother.
Charlie Rule had been warming up, enjoying the attention of the Sydney FC contingent in the crowd, and she got her chance, coming on to replace Catley. Izzy Comez had waves for the crowd, Alex Chidiac’s chant “My neck, my back, my Alex Chidiac” brought smiles from the player, who must be pinching herself being back in the frame after a while on the outer. Van Egmond ballooned one over, the first of a few shots that gave the security guard in front of us a near miss and a wry smile. Mexico countered with the move of the match, stretching the Matildas out and playing intricately out from the back, the end-to-end break cleared up eventually by Rule. The crowd were incensed when Carpenter raced through to win a corner, only for the referee to rule a goal kick. Foord, Kerr and Fowler played triangles trying to prise open the Mexican defence to no avail, before the stadium announcer changed tact and announced the names as well as the numbers for the next window of Mexican substitutions.
Mexico’s ball possession was far superior to their rather wasteful oponents, and they prised open the Matildas defence, the striker slipping at the wrong moment and unable to get a meaningful shot on goal. The visitors were winding up to something, keeping possession patiently and breaking at the right time. Their footwork and close ball skills were miles ahead of their hosts, and it was hard not to enjoy their football more than that of the Matildas. Alex Chidiac and Courtney Nevin came on to give an X-factor, but it was still all Mexico; Rule had to adjust her feet to avoid slicing into her own goal. Kerr did dispossess her player and stride off in search of a shot, but she delayed and delayed and in the end kicked the ball too far in front of her to lose control.
The game was heading for a 0-0 draw, Mexico were looking the better team, the Matildas were struggling to get forward now; the crowd weren’t budging, the public holiday weekend perhaps tempering the mums and dads with bed-times tonight. Arnold touched a shot around the post, but the crowd still believed that a late winner would come for the Tillies. Carpenter played a cross in, Kerr got a touch and appealed for the penalty, but it was waved away. There was another sloppy giveaway when Australia finally got possession, Kennedy giving the ball away and Mexico broke with pupose, the ball was played in centrally and both Rule and Nevin were attracted to the ball like moths to a flame leaving a cute ball to open up the defence and Diana Ordonez stroked the ball home with poise, racing away to hug her squad mates on the touchline as the crowd went silent and the Mexican fans finally got their moment to be heard. That was pretty much the final action of the match, and the final whistle sounded to sharp exhales of breath from the crowd.
The Active Bay was disconsolate. The Matildas went into their now familiar huddle, which was more irksome than wholesome, while the Mexican players made their way to the sidelines to salute their fans in the East stand. You couldn’t help feeling joy for them. The Matildas players did their cursory lap of the interior of the field, stone-faced and unsmiling, the majority of fans with their backs to them leaving via the aisles or already out of the stadium, while their adoring young fans screamed for more interaction. They did make themselves available in the main stand with their friends and families, alas nowhere else. Gone are the days of doing a whole lap of the stadium and signing until an hour after kick-off; the Matildas are a protected brand now, but a brand which did itself no end of harm tonight with their uninspriring footballing performance.
There was no point in leaving the stadium on the final whistle, with our car deep in the car park and the traffic traditionally thick leaving this venue. We stuck around until the security personnel started to shoo people away, quite disappointing given the number of young fans who were still eagerly waiting some interaction. The journey home was via a totally different route to the normal direct journey, but we still managed to be home before midnight with five hours to sleep before the Socceroos’ final World Cup warm up game against Switzerland on TV in the morning.
What did we learn from tonight’s game? The Matildas are being left behind in their accuracy, their ball retention and their deliveries into the penalty area, and tonight their eye for goal deserted them altogether. As those knowledgeable fans around me lamented : “we try to walk the ball into the net” but remembering the wayward efforts of Fowler, Torpey and Van Egmond in this one, it’s perhaps not a bad thing. Mary Fowler oozed quality as always, Caitlin Foord was dangerous with the ball, but the sloppy giveaways need to stop. Unforced errors they’re called in tennis. With a World Cup coming up in a year’s time, this is the perfect test of where we are right now; it’s obvious we are a long way from being the 15th best team in the world. We get the chance to put it right at CommBank Stadium on Tuesday, and based upon previous double-headers, the second game (think USA, New Zealand, China) is usually the one where we get our finger out after a reality check in game one. Let’s go Matildas!