“We don’t get many opportunities to play at home, so we wanted to make the most of it and take advantage of being able to play here,” says two-goal shooter Caitlin Foord.
And certainly the Matildas – the national team is named after the song “Waltzing Matilda” – took advantage of the home meeting. From fairly shaky results, the team has now won three games in a row.
The crowning glory: 4–0 against Sweden in front of over 22,000 spectators in Melbourne.
Described in the Australian media as the country’s biggest win against a top team.
And a fine display ahead of next year’s World Cup, which will be played in Australia and New Zealand.
Before the match, Gustavsson talked about how the match was an opportunity to give the Australians a taste of what they want to give them during the World Cup next year.
“We saw this match as a rehearsal for the WC,” he says in Melbourne.
Sweden started the match strongly but, despite several chances, could not finish.
At the end of the first half, however, Australia changed their game.
— We really fought during the first half hour. We became too spread out and passive in our defensive play. They played through us, around us. Then we made some tactical changes, and it worked really well, says Tony Gustavsson.