The Matildas played their first game in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and I regret to inform Tillies fans that it was a disaster.
World-class striker Jule Brand annihilated Australia’s back four as she shooted her shot (shot her shot?) and kicked goal after goal in the front third.
Brand later threw the knockout blow in the 68th minute, finishing a superb team goal with a tap-in at the far post.
It was brutal to watch — just moments before, she squared the ball for a teammate who missed the chance to claw back, striking firmly into the cover defending Alana Kennedy.
“It was definitely a wake-up call, but we’ve got two more games and we’ve got to turn it around quickly. A lot to learn from here. At times we were well on top and we let two set pieces affect the game in a very negative way,” Matildas star player Stephanie Catley told Nine News.
Catley reflecting on the loss to Nine News. (Credit: Nine)
“They are definitely things we can fix nice and quickly, which is good, but we just need to be better.”
She also addressed a nasty spill that occurred in the first half of the game.
“I’m okay, I think I headbutted the back of someone’s head. It was just a bit of a knock, I’m fine. We just have to get ready for the next time.”
She went on to add that Germany did a killer job, but “we did it to ourselves in the end. I think we know that. It’s a wake-up call and it’s not to our standard and we know that and we’ll go back and improve and turn the tournament around.”
Tillies coach Tony Gustavsson has since released the following forlorn statement: “Listen, you know what? The one thing I know about this team is that when they’re backed against a corner and there’s a lot of shit thrown at them with curve balls and different ways, a loss three-nil or baggage going missing … they never use these things as excuses.
“I want to be very real on that.
“When I say things about match fitness and tempo, that is not excuses,” Gustavsson said. “That is just explaining where we are right now. I think it explains a bit on why we lost so many one-one-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.”
He added, “I think we needed that as a wakeup call to say okay, now we’re in it. Hopefully that was the rusty performance we hopefully needed to get out of the system and then come back against Zambia.”
He later offered the following full apology: “I just want to say I’m so sorry to let down the fans back home that put their alarms on a 3am in the morning to get up and support us. It’s just amazing to see the support back home and I know we disappointed a lot of people. Please set the alarm for the next game as well because the players feed off the support they get. Hopefully we can make them proud against Zambia.”
Things aren’t looking good for the Tillies and if they lose to Zambia at Stade de Nice on Monday 3am (AEST), their Paris adventure will pretty much be donezo.
To catch the Tillies play their next game, check out our guide.
And for more details about how to watch the opening ceremony of Paris 2024 and which events you can’t miss, check out guide here!
If you want to catch anything from the Olympic Games Paris 2024, you can watch it on Channel Nine or stream it on 9Now.
Image credit: Getty / Nine News.
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