Katrina Gorry took possession in the middle of the park and knocked the ball forward for Caitlin Foord, with players in the Matildas' new fluoro kit surging forward on either side. Tōko Koga, a 19-year-old Japanese player, knocked the striker off the ball before she could continue her move, resulting in Japan gaining extended possession. Just like that, a moment of promise, a moment in which the Matildas saw an opportunity to transition and do what they do best, was brutally cut short.
It did not directly result in a goal, so it will not be remembered in the same way that Mina Tanaka's brace or Maika Hamano's surgical precision will. However, it captured a key theme of the 90-minute event at Shell Energy Stadium. Not only were Japan dominant with the ball, putting the game away in the first half with 64% possession and denying Australia a shot until the 87th minute, but they were also able to impose their will on the Matildas when they lacked it.
This wasn't just a contest in which they suffocated their opponents in attack; any attempts at a counterpunch were mercilessly swatted away. Defensive flaws have previously derailed the Matildas. However, in this game, they did not appear to be in the same weight class, and they were bullied.
Previously, performances like this were explained away by experimentation, a future focus, or other extenuating circumstances. It was pretty much the defining narrative of Tony Gustavsson's early tenure until things started to improve a year before the 2023 Women's World Cup. But, with just over a year until the Asian Cup begins on home soil, interim coach Tom Sermmani fielded what was arguably his best XI, full of familiar veterans and established stars playing in their natural positions, only to fall short against their opponents.
Previously, performances like this were explained away by experimentation, a future focus, or other extenuating circumstances. It was pretty much the defining narrative of Tony Gustavsson's early tenure until things started to improve a year before the 2023 Women's World Cup. But, with just over a year until the Asian Cup begins on home soil, interim coach Tom Sermmani fielded what was arguably his best XI, full of familiar veterans and established stars playing in their natural positions, only to fall short against their opponents.
"It was a pretty huge wake-up call," Sermanni said. "It was one of those games where we were completely outplayed from start to finish in every department. We were outplayed in football. We got outplayed physically. We were outplayed mentally. Outplayed our decision-making abilities.
"There were few positive takeaways from today's performance. I suppose a positive thing is that it now gives us a check to say, 'What do we need to do to beat teams like Japan?'"
Japan was already up a goal when Koga stole the ball from Foord, with Tanaka scoring in the sixth minute with a clever backheel.
After nearly four minutes of unbroken possession, Aoba Fujino whipped in a cross from the left that was headed away by Steph Catley, but with the Matildas' defence lacking urgency, Fuka Nagano sent it back in and Tanaka met it. The striker's second goal came in the 32nd minute, and the Australian defence did not look particularly impressive. Clare Hunt came across to try to intercept a ball lofted into the box by Hikaru Kitagawa, but misjudged its flight, colliding with Alanna Kennedy as the ball dropped, allowing the Utah Royals striker to slot past Mackenzie Arnold.
"We just didn't get close to Japan," explained Sermanni. "They were simply outstanding. Sometimes you have to sit back and say, "We were just played off the field today, and that's all we were." The most disappointing thing was that, despite that, I felt that some of the goals we gave up were very poor, which is unusual for Australia. We want to be a difficult team to beat, and to be honest, today we gave up some soft goals.
The Matildas will face Olympic champions and world number one the United States on Sunday (Monday morning AEDT), before concluding their tournament against Colombia next week.
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