Source : the age
Sometimes static, sometimes encouraging, but always – as Foord acknowledged after the game – missing the final ball. “The final pass just wasn’t there,” she said. “That’s something we need to be better at going into the next game.”
That next game is on Tuesday night, at Sydney’s Commbank Stadium. We’ll back to blog that, too. In the more immediate future, we’ll also be live blogging the Socceroos’ last World Cup warm-up against Mexico. Kick-off is tomorrow (Sunday) at 5am AEST. So get to it, you early birds. I’ll be there.
In the meantime, thanks for joining us, and keep an eye out for Frances Howe’s Matildas match report, which we’ll post to the top of this blog shortly.
Ciao for now.
“Disappointed to [concede] a goal at the end but we had enough changes to finish the game ourselves,” she says.
“It’s all good practice for the World Cup. It’s good to verse teams like this who will challenge us in different ways. Individually they’re very technical. They’re a counter-attacking team. It exposed a bit of our defence tonight.”
Mexico defeat Matildas for second time in 12 meetings.
It’s in the nick of time, too – two minutes into a three-minute stoppage-time period. Ordonez makes it count this time, with a close-range finish.
Australia 0-1 Mexico after 90+2 minutes
The goalkeeper has her wits about her – and she needs to in the face of a fast-approach Corral. Corral unleahes her shot near the edge of the penalty area and Arnold dives to her left, gloves outstretched, to parry the ball away.
Australia 0-0 Mexico after 88 minutes
Australia 0-0 Mexico after 84 minutes
Of course you would. It’s nil-nil with 15 left to play. What could be causing this stalemate? Is it Australia’s 63 per cent possession? Is it their 16 shots to Mexico’s six? It’s probably not that, given only three of those Matildas shots are on target (compared to Mexico’s two).
It is instructive that the Matildas have had 40 touches in the opposition box while Mexico have had only 12. And this might be one of those occasions where a coach tells media after the game that his or her team “dominated”. And then we might wade into the debate about how much currency domination has in football when it does not result in a goal (answer: none). But this is a friendly, after all, so there are always lessons and takeaways.
Australia 0-0 Mexico after 75 minutes
Raso’s first touch is a chance. Then a free kick gives Torpey a chance, before Foord gives Kerr a chance. Raso and Kerr combine for another Raso chance, and Fowler sets up van Egmond to shoot too high. It’s all happening, baby. It’s all happening and it’s not happening, because the score remains scoreless.
Mexico, meanwhile, have made substitutions, with Saldivar making way for Corral, and Soto and Ordonez also getting some game time.
For Australia, Charlie Rule is on as Catley takes her leave.
Australia 0-0 Mexico after 67 minutes
Oh my, that will stay with Salvidar. The youngster has the ball at her feet at close range. Everything before this moment has led to this moment. Carpenter had been dispossessed, Catley had failed to clear Mexico’s subsequent long ball, and a one-on-one with Arnold beckoned. And she shanks her shot both high and wide. Crazy scenes. Lucky for Australia.
Montemurro makes his first change of the night, with Raso coming on to replace Sayer, which probably means Fowler dropping back into the No.10 role and Raso slotting in on the right.
Australia 0-0 Mexico after 60 minutes
This is all the-final-ball-is-missing stuff. Van Egmond is offering the best kind of service via smart distribution, and Sayer and Foord are where they need to be. It’s just that the final pass to Kerr needs more oomph. Because Kerr is in (very) limited space, and when the ball comes at a dribble, well, all she can offer is a header with a dribble that Barrera collects with little effort.
Australia 0-0 Mexico after 53 minutes
