Shattered Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has made a heartfelt apology to the team’s fans after their campaign to win Olympic gold was all but torpedoed in a 3-0 loss to Germany on Friday morning.
The Aussies were completely outclassed by the football powerhouse on a stifling, dispiriting night in the south of France.
The World Cup semi-finalists, seeking their first ever Olympic medal, were simply not allowed to find their stride against the accomplished former champions in Marseille on Thursday on the eve of the opening ceremony in Paris, 750km away.
‘I just want to say I’m so sorry to let down the fans back home … I know we disappointed a lot of people,’ Gustavsson said after the heavy defeat.
‘We lost so many one-on-one duels. This side is so physical normally, we win all the one-on-one duels, there’s aggressiveness there, we’re running and our speed beats teams. But it wasn’t really there tonight.’
Aussie fans voiced their dismay at the result on social media, with many singling Gustavsson out for some special treatment.
‘Tony Gustavsson has rarely got it wrong in matches during major tournaments during his tenure, but this one ranks alongside the Nigeria nightmare,’ one fan wrote on X. ‘Wrong tactics with the high press and because of that starting the wrong players.’
‘Tony Gustavsson is the Brad Fittler of women’s football. Straight up holding our team back,’ another fan said, referring to the NRL great who resigned as NSW State of Origin coach after the team lost two series in a row.
A dejected Tony Gustavsson is pictured after the Matildas’ heavy loss to Germany in Marseilles on Friday morning
Aussie fans turned on the coach after the horror defeat, with some even calling for his sacking
Pictured: A sample of some of the online comments slamming the Swede on Friday
Others were more blunt, writing, ‘Can we sack Tony Gustavsson now?’ and ‘How does Tony Gustavsson stay in a job’.
Germany, inspired by their brilliant winger Jule Brand, could have won by an even bigger margin and the bruising setback in group B leaves Tony Gustavsson’s side immediately on the back foot in a tough group also featuring a powerful US side.
It means they must win their next match against Zambia in Nice on Sunday – and they will need to improve drastically.
The Matildas barely created a worthwhile chance, any decent approach work being scuppered by poor build-up delivery, and the Germans were decisive winners with two headed goals for Marina Hegering and Lea Schueller from corners, before Brand fittingly wrapped up the most comprehensive of victories.
The Australians, who’d suffered a blow beforehand with injury forcing Tameka Yallop out of the squad, were quickly alerted to the danger of the excellent Brand, who got her shot away in the fourth minute after Kyra Cooney-Cross was robbed in midfield.
Soon after, a terrific quick ball delivered by German goalie Ann-Katrin Berger again found Brand, who cut inside Katrina Gorry and should have scored, only to fire high and not very handsome.
The Matildas contributed to a lively opening quarter but their high line left them vulnerable on the counter, with Cortnee Vine needing to make a key interception to stop Giulia Gwinn volleying the Germans ahead.
Mary Fowler (centre) and her teammates were devastated after the fulltime siren
The Aussies’ hopes of winning gold have been all but ruined by the loss
There felt an inevitability, though, about the 24th minute opener as Gwinn’s pinpoint corner to the back post was met by a superbly timed downward header by Hegering, who had bullied her way through Ellie Carpenter.
Mary Fowler, who had an ineffective night up front, nearly responded immediately afterwards, but was dispossessed when she turned to fire in the box, and the Tillies did have a couple of speculative efforts through Caitlin Foord.
Yet the Germans could have gone further ahead before the break only for Sjoeke Nusken to be stopped by a fine intervention from captain Steph Catley, who had won her battle for fitness.
Riding their luck, Australia’s defence was again broken down at the start of the second half when Clare Hunt got caught in possession by Brand. She freed Alex Popp, whose shot was brilliantly blocked by Alanna Kennedy.
The Australians were undone again from a Gwinn corner in the 64th minute, when Schueller was left unmarked to head home from six metres out.
Brand was then rewarded for her brilliance by tapping home four minutes later after a fine team move, starting from goalie Berger, shredded the green-and-gold defence.
The Germans had a fourth scrambled goal disallowed soon after for offside and threatened to inflict even more damage with the Tillies, who pushed in vain for a consolation after bringing on Michelle Heyman, surviving an even worse fate.
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