The honeymoon is over for the Matildas as fans are turning on the women’s national team for barely edging out lowly Zambia in a shock result at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday.
After being thrashed 3-0 by Germany, the Tillies needed to win the game and dug themselves into a massive 5-2 hole against the 63rd-ranked nation, leaving their Olympic campaign on life support.
However, a combination of some clever changes, a ramping up of intensity and a series of horrendous errors from the Zambian goalkeeper bailed the Matildas out of jail with a frantic 6-5 result.
“I don’t think I’ve ever covered a more chaotic, emotional and unhinged football match. I still don’t know how the Matildas survived,” wrote presenter Lucy Zelić.
While the win keeps them alive, fans are wondering what is wrong with a team that has looked flat compared to the efforts that earned them a historic fourth-place finish at the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year.
And they didn’t beat around the bush.
“The Matildas are disgraceful. Why take part in the Olympics without being fit?” asked one.
“The fact that the Matildas have now celebrated victory over Zambia (after a comeback) is not encouraging… is there something wrong with the team?” another questioned.
“They won 6-5 against a team they should have beaten 6-0 because of the position they’re on. (Goalkeeper Mackenzie) Arnold had an amazing game, we were lucky their goalkeeper had a worse game,” said another fan.
Another posted: “I love the Tillies but their game this morning was terrible and rightly criticised.”
A win is a win, but the Matildas conceded five goals before getting into their stride and securing a vital victory against Zambia.
Zambia’s Racheal Kundananji (front) and Barbra Banda (not pictured) tore holes in the Matildas’ defence at will in the first half.
The look on Matildas star Ellie Carpenter’s face says it all in a match the Australians should have won easily rather than coming under intense pressure from the Zambians.
Even Matildas coach Tony Gustavson was blunt in his assessment of the match.
“This was one of the craziest games we’ve ever played,” Gustavsson said.
“I mean, how many times have these players done that? This is not the time to think about how we conceded five goals because obviously that was crap.”
Socceroos legend Robbie Slater agreed with the criticism and warned the Matildas will have to improve against the United States if they are to advance.
“Let’s not sugarcoat things too much,” he wrote in his News Corporation column.
‘If it wasn’t for the poor Zambian goalkeeper, the Matildas would have lost.
“It is now up to them to use that advantage to ensure that this Olympic campaign does not go down in history as a disaster.”
Slater pointed to the Matildas’ slow start to the Tokyo Games, where they barely made it to the knockout stages before beating Great Britain in the quarter-finals, before losing 1-0 in the semi-finals to Sweden, as proof they could bounce back.
“Australians must solve a number of problems to emulate that feat,” he wrote.
“The amount of space they gave not only to Zambia but also to Germany in their 3-0 defeat last week was alarming.”
Australian football fans have not missed the Matildas and have criticised them for their performances so far at the Paris Olympics.
However, Australian football legends Craig Foster and Mark Bosnich were more enthusiastic in their assessment of the Matildas and their efforts to come from behind and win the goal-fest.
Foster wrote on social media: “Craziest game ever. Bravest performance. Never give up. Unbelievable.”
Bosnich detailed the improvements the Matildas had made after their 3-0 defeat to Germany.
“The most incredible match in the history of women’s football and one of the most incredible matches I have ever witnessed anywhere,” she said.
‘To be fair to the Tillies, they played much better than they did against Germany. They are still nowhere near their best. But they thought they were much better prepared.
‘In the first half, Hayley Raso played wide on one side and Caitlin Foord on the other, which gave them a lot more width.’
Even Matildas coach Tony Gustavson said conceding five goals was ‘bullshit’.
“It’s great to be on the winning side in those entertaining games,” Bosnich continued.
‘There comes a time in your sport when you’re staring into the abyss of what is truly a nightmare and everyone is watching you, you have two options.
‘You can fly away and cower and say, you know, look, that’s it… or you can fight back.
“And the Matildas, boy did they fight back.”
