Summary
Thank you for joining me this afternoon. We’ll be back for the friendly double-header with Korea in April. Catch you then… but in the meantime, here is Mike Hytner’s report of the Matildas’ 2-1 defeat to Colombia.
Updated
These are tricky times for the Matildas. They have reached a level of prominence in Australian culture that they have used to enormous public benefit, but the performances and results that earned that goodwill have deserted them. Moreover, with coaching and selection policy as it stands, it is hard to see where the turnaround is going to come from.
Accompanying that goodwill has been a lack of external scrutiny, but with results and performances as they are, those tough conversations are becoming unavoidable. Andy Harper spent most of his TV analysis biting his tongue, but his frustration at the process that has led to this point was obvious.
It is going to be another big year for Football Australia. Fixing their prized asset is now an urgent priority.
So, what did we learn about the Matildas?
Just a year out from hosting the Asian Cup the team still has an interim coach (now extended to include the friendlies with Korea in April). Whoever takes over full time will have precious little time to establish themselves before they’re in tournament mode.
The squad of core players remains desperately small. Tony Gustavsson handed a grenade to his successor by focussing all his attention on a tiny trusted group. That cadre shows no sign of increasing after another international window that featured mostly familiar faces.
Australia have now lost eight of their last 13 matches.
Before we dig into Australia, a word for Colombia. Caicedo is a superb talent, running at speed down the left. Ramirez is the kind of No 9 her teammates must dream of playing with thanks to her ability to hold up play and bring others into the game.
Around that quality there was industry and resilience – especially in defence during the second-half – and no shortage of street smarts, slowing the game down, finding free-kicks and injuries at opportune moments. On another day their play out of the back in the first half may have cost them a couple of goals, but they rode their luck tonight and came out on top.
Let the postmortem begin. Not many positives to take away from this match, or this tournament with The Matildas struggling a year out from hosting the Asian Cup.
Full-time: Australia 1-2 Colombia
Three matches, three defeats. The Matildas leave their first SheBelieves Cup bitterly disappointed.
90+10 mins: Micah saves well from the brilliant Caicedo! Mazy run, drifting from left to right then shooting across her body only for a diving save away to the right.
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90+9 mins: Gorry again with neat skill in midfield. Montoya has a nibble and goes into the book for her troubles. The free-kick is booted long. There’s a flick on but nobody can reach the bouncing ball and Giraldo gathers.
90+8 mins: Gorry with another long pass but Giraldo is alert to it.
90+7 mins: Murphy finally wins a duel with Caicedo, but the outcome is Micah launching a long ball for Prior to flick on. Old fashioned route one from Australia, hoping to feed off scraps.
90+6 mins: Needless foul from Hunt, dragging Minota down inside Colombia’s box after good work from Gorry.
90+4 mins: Prior has now shifted from centre-half to centre-forward. The instruction from Sermanni is to get the ball forward early. Bleurgh.
90+3 mins: Colombia with a couple more subs.
⏱️ 90+2' Cambios en Colombia
— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) February 27, 2025
➡️ Ivonne Chacón, Daniela Montoya
⬅️ Mayra Ramírez, Leicy Santos
🇨🇴 2-1 🇦🇺#LaSeleNosUne 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/HK9WDhW6RR
90+2 mins: Another trademark Caicedo dash down the left leaves Murphy for dead. This time instead of cutting in she squares the ball for Reyes to blast wastefully wide from miles out.
90+1 mins: There’ll be a minimum of eight minutes of stoppage time. I say minimum because another Colombian is down – Giraldo again – milking the clock.
90 mins: Foord is shoved to the ground just outside the box. Fowler with the delivery – too close to Giraldo.
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Biggest takeaway from the #SheBelieves Cup, for me, is of missed opportunity. Three games against top nations a year out from a home Asian Cup and the #Matildas still in a holding pattern, Football Australia still looking for a full-time coach as rivals begin to accelerate ahead.
— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) February 27, 2025
88 mins: Another break in play as Usme is down receiving treatment. This evening is descending into one of enormous frustration for the Matildas.
87 mins: Fowler battles hard to retain possession but Foord then gives it away. In transition Caicedo leaves Murphy for dead on her way into the box, but not for the first time tonight, after cutting in, her shot is blocked.
86 mins: Colombia enjoy a nice couple of minutes of possession and territory. They are taking the sting out of this game nicely.
84 mins: Murphy’s inclusion has pushed Van Egmond further forward but the Matildas have run out of momentum.
82 mins: Ramirez is superb. So strong, so technically adept. Gorry loses her rag and crashes into the Colombian No 9 late and earns her way into the referee’s book.
Sermanni goes to his bench again with Murphy coming on Cooney-Cross.
80 mins: The corner from Cooney-Cross should be easy for the keeper but Giraldo chooses instead to double-fist a punch over her head and behind for another set-piece. Fowler delivers this time from the far side, and on this occasion Giraldo does pouch a simple catch.
79 mins: Sara Martínez is the latest Colombian to go down and milk the clock. She eventually makes her way slowly off the field, replaced by Camila Reyes.
78 mins: Grant has been much busier this half, and her industry and pace earns a corner.
77 mins: Cooney-Cross curls over a free-kick from deep. The clearing header is only as far as Fowler, who volleys first time on the run towards goal. It deflects off Hunt and behind for a goal kick.
76 mins: That Colombian goal was very fortunate, but Australia’s lack of urgency outside the box will disappoint Sermanni.
75 mins: Van Egmond has a pop from outside the box but it ‘s too high.
GOAL! Australia 1-2 Colombia (Usme, 73)
Caicedo wins a corner in trademark fashion, advancing towards the box on the left then shaping to curl into the far corner on her right boot. The effort is deflected and spins behind. The first set-piece is repelled by Fowler, leading to a second, which Hunt deals with twice, but her second header is not dealt with outside the Australian box. Usme wins it and ghosts past Foord and Cooney-Cross before letting fly with her left boot. The ball takes a wicked deflection and loops with masses of topspin over Micah and into the goal.
71 mins: Fowler – impressive already in her brief cameo – wins the ball in transition, spins like Zidane, and sends Foord on her way again. Not for the first time this half the Arsenal star is denied by the robust Colombian back four.
GOAL! Australia 1-1 Colombia (Raso, 69)
Australia’s persistence pays off! Cooney-Cross, Fowler, and Grant do well in tight areas on the left touchline. The latter delivers the best cross of the night, arcing dangerously towards Raso at the far post. She steps inside and looks to be crowded out, but she battles on, winning a second bite of the cherry. From near the penalty spot her snapshot is deflecting beyond the wrongfooted Giraldo.
67 mins: Foord can finally run at Colombia… but she passes to nobody on her left with Van Egmond checking her run.
66 mins: Mary Fowler is the fourth substitute of the night for Australia, replacing the ineffective Tameka Yallop on the left. The Matildas now have their best available front four on the field for the final 25 minutes or so.
64 mins: Caicedo and Santos almost fashion an opening down the left but they’re crowded out. Santos then robs Torpey in possession but Colombia make nothing of it.
Foord, increasingly frustrated as she struggles to get into the game, throws her weight around in attack, but to no avail, then as the clearing boot is sent downfield Hunt is booked for holding onto Santos on the turn.
63 mins: Another Colombian goes down injured. Bonilla this time. And the goalscorer will be replaced by West Ham’s Manuela Paví.
62 mins: Ramirez’s hold-up play is superb. It buys her team time and territory time and again. This has become a bitty, stop-start affair, which suits Colombia. Australia are getting frustrated.
60 mins: Bonilla with the backheel down the line, Santos with the cross, Micah with the easy claim. Australia give the ball straight back though and Caicedo can run at Torpey… into the box… to the byline… but her cross is repelled by Micah’s boot. The youngster goes down off the field, perhaps rolling her ankle in contact attempting the cross.
57 mins: A brief break in play while Natalia Giraldo, the Colombian goalkeeper, receives treatment for a right leg injury. There was no contact involved, and there is already strapping on the No 13’s right knee.
56 mins: Another wasteful ball, this time from Torpey. The Matildas are having enough possession, they just lack cohesion and structured patterns of play.
55 mins: Australia continue to threaten but another Raso cross doesn’t reach a teammate.
54 mins: Foord with a beauty from long-range that just flies wide of the apex of post and bar. The opportunity came courtesy of Van Egmond who stepped up to intercept and dab forward the simple pass. EVE has started this second half well, probing from deep.
53 mins: The Matildas look far less threatening down the left where Yallop lacks penetration one-on-one with Colombia’s fullback. Her partnership with Grant also lacks cohesion and Australia concede possession.
52 mins: Raso again Australia’s outlet down the right and she squares the ball smartly into the box but there’s no b lack shirt where it matters and Colombia clear. So frustrating for the Matildas.
51 mins: In a good early sign for Tash Prior, she stands her ground well as Ramirez tries to roll her in the box. Yallop is then sent to the deck clutching her ankle.
50 mins: Brilliant hold-up play from Ramirez again, and just like the goal freeing Bonilla down the right, but this time Australia have enough numbers back to repel the attack.
48 mins: Van Egmond, wearing the captain’s armband, is now dictating play from deep, operating like an old-fashioned libero to set Australia’s tempo. She finds Raso on the right with a lovely cross-field ball, but the speedster is crowded out – not once, but twice.
47 mins: Almost a second for Colombia and Bonilla. Australia give the ball away cheaply down the right allowing Caicedo to run at the retreating Hunt. Eventually the young star squares the ball along the top of th ebox for Bonilla to step onto a shoot, but her effort is blocked.
46 mins: Prior and Foord have come on for the Matildas at the interval. They replace Catley and Heyman. That’s three subs now for Australia with Torpey replacing the injured Carpenter just before the break.
This is going to be another tournament Australian fans look back on questioning the logic of who played, and for how long.
Presumably we’re going to see a raft of substitutions in the second-half, for which we’re expected to judge the capability of fringe players stepping up at an Asian Cup on home soil.
Despite talk of rotation, Carpenter plays every minute of the first two games and then goes down injured in the first half against Colombia and is subbed off. Pep Montemurro might kill someone. #AUSvCOL
— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) February 27, 2025
Half-time: Australia 0-1 Colombia
Colombia dominated the opening 15 minutes and took a deserved lead through a magnificent Bonilla goal. Australia built thereafter, thanks in no small part to some catastrophic defending from their opponents, but they were unable to find an equaliser.
45 mins: Heyman accepts the long ball through the middle, feeds Yallop on the left, who cuts back inside onto her right and a few passes later the ball is with Micah. Catley is then forced into a one-on-one duel on the touchline. The Matildas need to find a way to maintain forward momentum when the ball is passed halfway instead of having to recirculate in defensive territory.
44 mins: Ellie Carpenter is forced off with what appears a quad injury. San Diego Wave’s Kaitlyn Torpey, playing on her home ground, comes on in her place.
43 mins: Catley’s delivery is great, Hunt wins the first ball, then the second – which is a header in the direction of the far corner – but it evades the post, as well as the despairing leaps of Yallop and Heyman.
Meanwhile, players from both side are on the turf receiving attention. Carpenter looks to have hurt her quad, while Mary Álvarez looks a little dazed.
41 mins: Since their goal Colombia have been largely on the back foot. They seem to want to stroke the ball around midfield and defence around halfway, but Australia’s press keeps forcing them backwards and the back four simply isn’t good enough in possession. Gradually the ball gets closer and closer to Colombia’s byline before the hurried clearance. Australia force the turnover, free Carpenter down the right, and she forces a corner.
39 mins: She doesn’t dwell on it though, switching play superbly for Yallop, who curls over a decent cross but it’s just out of reach of Heyman at the far post.
38 mins: Raso, wearing a black ribbon in her hair tonight, is rightly booked for sliding through late, and with her studs up.
36 mins: Colombia have their best spell for 20 minutes or so. Caicedo begins the move spreading play to the right, Colombia then do well to keep the ball alive in tight areas before a hopeful cross almost falls to Minota, then a second effort is clipped harmly over the bar.
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34 mins: Cooney-Cross in the more advanced role is promising. Her technical skill and comfort on the ball in tight areas is a joy to watch. It’s now up to the rest of the team to get onto the same wavelength. Unfortunately neither Yallop nor Heyman have started this match well.
32 mins: Raso and Cooney-Cross link well again on the right. Their rondo-style one-touch passes are crisp and create space between the lines, but that final ball is again found wanting with Yallop running in behind Colombia’s defence when Cooney-Cross wanted the run in her direction.
30 mins: Disappointing set-piece from Australia. Carpenter executes the longish throw, Hunt – up from the back – executes the textbook flick-on… but nobody is attacking the space in behind to turn the routine into a chance. None of Yallop, Raso, or Van Egmond showed any urgency.
28 mins: Almost another catastrophic backpass from Colombia but the goalkeeper clears before Heyman can pounce. Colombia’s defence have had their fingers hovering above the self-destruct button for the past 15 minutes.
25 mins: It’s suddenly all Australia now as Colombia’s panic playing out from the back proves contagious. Gorry has a decent opening just outside the box but her throughball is to nobody.
The Australian press, led by Cooney-Cross, ably supported from behind by Gorry and Van Egmond, is proving the Matildas’ major attacking weapon.
23 mins: Cooney-Cross must score – twice! Colombia again cannot clear their lines. Gorry pounces, feeds Cooney-Cross, but she dallies over her first chance and sees her shot blocked by a superb sliding challenge. The rebound falls kindly but her second effort is off target.
For all Colombia’s control in the attacking half of the pitch, their play out from the back has been suicidal.
21 mins: Heyman must score! Colombia make an awful mess playing out of defence. Van Egmond is gifted possession on the edge of the box, taps a simple assist through to her No 9 but Heyman seems in two minds and fails to either shoot or take the ball around the goalkeeper. Massive let off for Colombia.
20 mins: Cheap turnover in midfield and Cooney-Cross can break – but there’s nobody ahead of her and she’s forced to protect possession and play sideways. The resulting passing chain is crisp but ends only with a hopeful ball into the box.
17 mins: Colombia are well worth their lead. Australia have struggled for possession and control, with Plan A an attempt to play the ball through the lines down the right and bring Cooney-Cross as close to Raso as possible. It’s all a bit too intricate, and reliant on the third player up, who so far hasn’t been on the same wavelength.
GOAL! Australia 0-1 Colombia (Bonilla, 15)
Brilliant. Right on cue, Ramirez accepts the clearing ball out of defence with her back to goal, holds up play, Australia look to Caicedo on the left but the pass is sprayed majestically out to the right where Bonilla is in behind Grant and out of reach of Catley. She gallops into open space and lashes an unstoppable shot across the diving Micah from just inside the box. Magnificent counterattacking goal.
13 mins: Ramirez’s strength through the middle and Caicedo’s trickery down the left make for an awkward attack to set-up against defensively. Both have started brightly, creating space for teammates behind them and further to the right to execute long spells of short one and two-touch passing. Colombia have dictated the early phase of this match.
11 mins: Australia’s brightest moments have come down the right and Raso is typically industrious in the corner to extract the ball from a tight area and cross to the top of the box where Yallop is waiting. The latter’s effort is weak and off target.
9 mins: Raso gets away with a robust challenge on Caicedo just outside the box. It’s given as a corner but nothing comes of it.
7 mins: Brilliant from Colombia – brilliant save from Micah! Caicedo spins away from trouble on the left touchline near halfway, feeds Ramirez ahead who waits for Caicedo to gallop behind the Australian defensive line. The pass is perfectly timed and weighted. The Real Madrid star picks out Santos in the box but from 10 yards out she sidef-oots towards the corner of goal, only for Micah to dive full stretch and palm the ball away. That should have been the opener.
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6 mins: Colombia work the ball around their defence and midfield with Australia committing to a diligent high press. It forces the long ball but Van Egmond cannot execute the counterattacking pass and Colombia get another go, this time from broken play, and break down the right. The cross is excellent but Ramirez can’t get her boot to an improvised volley and the chance goes begging.
4 mins: Poor giveaway in midfield from the South Americans but Yallop is slow to take advantage and the Matildas build from deep. They do so nicely down the right in a mode that ends with the onrushing Van Egmond curling a long range effort just wide.
2 mins: Colombia on the front foot early with Caicedo getting in down the left but unable to pick out a target in the box. Tactically for the Matildas, Cooney-Cross is occupying the No 10 role, instead of her usual station alongside Gorry at the base of midfield.
Kick-off!
Australia’s final match in the SheBelieves Cup is under way…
The two sides are making their way out into the San Diego sunshine. It’s around 18C and falling as afternoon gives way to a still and pleasant evening in California.
The Matildas will be in their new all black change strip tonight. Colombia will be in their traditional yellow.
Tonight's threads 🧵⚫️#Matildas #SheBelievesCup pic.twitter.com/ndvAUdqf16
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) February 26, 2025
The issue comes from the fact that these comments from Sheargold were so unnecessarily gendered. By comparing the team to Year 10 girls, he draws on societal attitudes that girls and girlishness are instinctively laughable and unserious. There is a long history of society not taking girls seriously – from mocking the kind of music they like and the books they read, to the way they speak, run and throw. By putting the Matildas into the realm of “girls”, Sheargold was trying to – whether consciously or unconsciously – take away the little power they had earned after dragging women’s sport into the spotlight.
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Following a 4-0 defeat to Japan, Australia then lost 2-1 to an experimental USA, a result that was damned with the faint praise of an interim coach crediting his side for not caving in.
Counting down to kick-off ⏳#Matildas #SheBelievesCup pic.twitter.com/HvKCznniBW
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) February 27, 2025
Colombia XI
Here’s how Colombia go in to today’s fixture. Always a pleasure to see the attacking quality of Linda Caicedo and Mayra Ramirez.
🚨 𝐗𝐈 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐑
— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) February 26, 2025
Así formará nuestra Selección Colombia Femenina de Mayores 🆚 🇦🇺 en el cierre de la SheBelieves Cup.#VenConLaSele 🇨🇴#LaSeleNosUne 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/oZxF8D1Ea5
Australia XI
Tom Sermanni has shuffled his pack again, but there are no wildcards in the starting XI. Of note, Teagan Micah continues her push to become the first choice goalkeeper, and Michelle Heyman returns up front. A lot will rely again on veterans Tameka Yallop and Emily van Egmond for creativity and tempo.
“Over the last seven years we haven’t really expanded the capacity of the squad,” laments Andy Harper on the TV, doing his best to remain diplomatic.
STARTING XI 🗒
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) February 26, 2025
Here's how we line up for our game against Colombia in the #SheBelievesCup 👊#Matildas #AUSvCOL pic.twitter.com/Puw3b8Z3Vv
Because it’s 2025 and we’re no longer allowed to have nice things, the loudest headlines about women’s sport in recent days have been about a bloke being a dickhead.
Preamble
Hello everyone and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup. Kick-off at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego is 4:30pm local time (11:30am AEDT).
Unfortunately for both teams this is a crushing non-event of a fixture. The competitive jeopardy extends to the avoidance of last place in the four-team tournament, with the superior pair of Japan and the USA battling it out for silverware later on.
Nonetheless, there is still much for the Matildas to gain from 90 minutes against one of the most instinctive sides in international football.
At a basic level Australia just need a result to restore some of the feel-good factor that normally accompanies the squad. Seven defeats in 12 from the recent World Cup semi-finalists indicates a team enduring a prolonged spell of poor form, or worse, it may be signalling a more significant decline requiring revised expectations; downwards.
If it is the latter, tournaments like this, and especially fixtures like this, must be seized upon to figure out what the next iteration of this team looks like. The starting XI against Japan in the opening match was a Sam Kerr away from the preferred XI for most of the last four years – and it was hammered 4-0.
Clearly this is not helped by the extended presence of an interim coach (nor a predecessor with a short-term focus). Whoever is appointed full-time will be forced to grasp the nettle, and somehow balance squad rejuvenation against the hype that will come with Australia hosting the next major tournament: the 2026 Asian Cup. And while that competition sounds futuristic, the opening ceremony is just a year and two days away.
I’ll be back with team news and more talking points shortly. If you want to get in touch feel free to drop me an email.
🏟️ Snapdragon Stadium#Matildas #SheBelievesCup pic.twitter.com/JrY0Sb5wsH
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) February 26, 2025
