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The Matildas have written their names into the pages of Australian sporting history with an incredible penalty shootout win over France in the World Cup quarterfinals.
The result is revenge, in a way, for the Matildas’ penalty shootout defeat at the last Women’s World Cup, in 2019 on French soil.
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MATILDAS END CURSE AND GET PENALTY REVENGE
It’s been four long years since one of the most heartbreaking moments in Matildas history.
It was 2019, in France, the previous edition of the Women’s World Cup.
On that day, the Matildas were locked at 1-1 with Norway after extra time. Sam Kerr stepped up for Australia’s first penalty after Caroline Graham Hansen nailed hers – and missed.
Guro Reiten made it 2-0 to Norway – and Emily Gielnik missed. Norway scored twice more, making Steph Catley’s goal just a consolation.
4-1. What had been viewed as Australia’s best chance of World Cup glory – until this year, that is – had ended in a dismal Round of 16 defeat.
This time around, Sam Kerr wasn’t going to make the same mistakes.
She said after the game: “The only penalty I was thinking about was the one I missed at the last World Cup. It went away from my routine and what I normally did, so this time it was all about self-belief and just putting it where I normally do.
“It was all about routine, about focus, and sticking to my plan.”
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Speaking on Optus Sport tonight, Matildas star Chloe Logarzo (involved in that Norway game but missing this tournament) said: “Every single player has been training for this for the last four years since that.”
She added through tears: “What people don’t understand is that we’ve been in this situation twice before and we’ve lost major tournaments because of penalties.
“And I’m so proud of the people who missed those penalties who stood up and took that because it takes a lot of courage to be able to do it. And I couldn’t be more prouder than us making history. And I can just feel how amazing it feels and just, I’m so proud.”
14 members of Australia’s squad for this tournament were part of that 2019 campaign and experienced the heartbreak.
On that day, Australia’s final act in extra time was to take Ellie Carpenter off ahead of the shootout. This time, she had her chance – and she duly buried her attempt.
Mackenzie Arnold was another member of the 2019 squad, though she was on the bench for that game. Though she missed her own penalty attempt this time around, she made two crucial saves – including one when she was forced to face a penalty re-take after coming off her line too early the first time around.
Kerr said: “Mackenzie was amazing. She saves all our penalties at training and robs our confidence. We all just stuck to our routines and we knew she’d come through for us, but she was amazing in the game as well. I’m really happy for her.”
Before 2019, Australia had been dumped out of the World Cup in the quarterfinals at three consecutive tournaments (2015, 2011, 2007).
Now, they finally have their first quarter-final win and their first final-four appearance.
Kerr added: “I hate penalties. I wish there was golden goal or something because it’s such a bad way to lose. It was an absolute rollercoaster, up and down.”
It was a bad way to lose back in 2019. But that heartbreak has inspired the Aussies to even greater heights – and to end their quarter-final curse.
FRANCE’S ‘GRAHAM ARNOLD MOMENT’ BACKFIRES
When the fourth official raised the substitute board in the 123rd minute, the minds of Australian football fans raced back to the early hours of June 14 last year.
Back then, Socceroos boss Graham Arnold rolled the dice when he substituted on Andrew Redmayne for Matthew Ryan.
It was a shock move, especially since Ryan is adept at saving penalties himself and there was a spot in the men’s World Cup at stake.
But one crucial save later and as they say, the rest is history as Redmayne became the ‘Grey Wiggle’ and the Socceroos would go on to make it to the Round of 16.
Now, back to the Matildas’ clash against France.
Les Bleus coach Herve Renard decided he would make a late change between the sticks, taking out Pauline Peyraud-Magnin and replacing her with substitute goalkeeper Solene Durand.
Seven commentator David Basheer couldn’t ignore the scary parallel.
“It may be a Graham Arnold-type move for France,” Basheer said.
The shock switch no doubt sparked fear among Aussie fans given they knew just how well Arnold’s move played out and how painful it was for Peru at the time.
With Renard placing his and thus an entire nation’s faith in Durand, there was a mountain of expectation on the 28-year-old’s shoulders – someone who had only made TWO prior appearances for France.
Part of the switch was to play some mind games with the Matildas, but Renard and his coaching staff had no doubt prepared Durand for such a scenario in training and she’d have been studying every inch of the Australian penalty takers.
But for a goalkeeper subbed on with the sole intention of saving penalties, Durand didn’t quite have the desired impact.
Instead, it was Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold who stole the limelight.
Arnold saved the first penalty of the shootout from France’s Selma Bacha and produced a stunning stop to tip Eve Perisset’s shot onto the post.
The Queenslander did have a chance to seal the win when she took the fifth penalty, but her effort smacked against the post.
But Arnold would once again come up big when she denied Kenza Dali not once but twice after VAR ordered a retake as the Aussie came off her line for the first save.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson was full of praise for Arnold, hailing her as one of his now-famous “game changers.”
“She was unbelievable for the whole game plus penalty shootout,” Gustavsson told Optus Sport.
“The composure, the bravery, but then also to come back from that miss when she (could have) been the hero of the century.
“To stay in the game and then come back and be the game changer, I’m so happy for her.”
Teammate Steph Catley said about Arnold’s performance: “I just got goosebumps.
“I’m so happy for her. She’s worked so hard, she’s come into her own, she’s been brave, she backed herself. She’s done what we’ve been waiting for her to do. We’ve all known she’s capable and she’s just gone ahead and taken ownership and done it herself.
“You can see it in the games and the game play and big saves she makes – but we all know how good she is at penalties. That’s always been her thing. When we went into this, I was like, ‘We’re good. Mac’s going to save probably the lot of them.’
“I’m just so proud of how far she’s come. She’s incredible. She did something so special tonight.”
Arnold has certainly cemented herself as a national hero for her penalty heroics, but what makes it even more remarkable is that she has fought her way to become the Matildas’ first choice between the sticks.
A year ago, Arnold looked like the third choice between the sticks, between veteran Lydia Williams and young superstar Teagan Micah. Micah appears to be the Matildas’ long-term future goalkeeper, but a serious concussion suffered late last year sidelined her for months and gave Arnold a chance to compete for the starting position.
She secured the gig with a sublime series of performances in the Cup of Nations in February, earning her player-of-the-tournament honours – and she’s never looked back.
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GOALS WIN GAMES, DEFENCE WINS TROPHIES
Four clean sheets in five World Cup games is one hell of a record – especially when it includes wins over two of the world’s top-ten teams.
First it was the Olympic silver medallists Canada in the group stages, and now world number five France.
The Matildas have turned into a remarkably resilient team at this tournament, but don’t think that it’s come out of nowhere. It’s been the result of years of progression and hard-won lessons.
When Tony Gustavsson started his tenure in charge of the Matildas, the team conceded ten goals in their first two matches.
At the last World Cup (2019), Australia’s defence struggled. The Matildas conceded six times in their three group games, and another at the hands of Denmark in a 1-1 draw that led to a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat.
France opened this World Cup campaign with a goalless draw with Jamaica, before scoring eight goals in their next two group-stage games, and adding another four in a crushing win of Morocco in the Round of 16. Their entire forward line was firing, none more so than Kadidiatou Diane, who had scored or assisted seven of France’s 12 goals (the most goal involvements of any players this tournament).
But Clare Hunt and Alanna Kennedy did exceptionally in centre-back to keep her under wraps, while the fullbacks (Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley) both had strong games against France’s wide players.
And of course there was Mackenzie Arnold, the goalkeeper earning player of the match honours for her standout performance.
But Australia’s defensive efforts are not just down to the back line – it is the product of a tactical evolution over the years.
The team now presses as one, but only in specific moments and scenarios so well-drilled in the team that it becomes instinctive. Coach Gustavsson says his team looks for ‘triggers’ to press. No wonder Australia’s players race at their opponents like bullets from a gun.
It all starts in the hardworking forward line. That’s part of why having central midfielder Emily van Egmond play as a centre-forward in Sam Kerr’s absence has proven so effective – not just to hold up the ball and pass to teammates going forward, but for her ability to close down opponents using her intelligent reading of space.
In the midfield, Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross have turned their defensive efforts into an efficient one-two punch – one of them closes down and forces the error, and the other is there to pounce on every loose ball.
It is a mark of the Matildas’ development throughout the years, but equally of their mentality and team spirit, that the defence has been able to weather wave after wave of opposition attacks without crumbling.
France dominated the first half and had stretches of dominance for the rest of the match, times when they poured forwards and the Matildas’ backs were against the walls – but never beaten. The French took 21 shots in the match without finding the back of the net.
Sure, the Aussies rode their luck at times against France – they could easily have conceded in the 12th minute when the French missed a sitter, or in extra time when a corner kick bounced off Kennedy’s head into her own net (which was rightly called back for a foul on Foord).
But the Matildas’ clean sheets aren’t a fluke, they’re a trend. Against France in a friendly the week before the World Cup began, the Matildas won 1-0 – another clean sheet. And their match before that? 2-0 over England. Another clean sheet, another win.
When they face England on Wednesday, let’s hope the defence stands tall once more.
