Coach Tony Gustavsson is counting on the “amazing” spirit of his battling Matildas to propel them into the Olympic quarter-finals despite the odds being stacked against them.
The Aussies’ Swedish coach was left saluting the collective heart of his team after they rallied from 5-2 down in the second half in Nice to oust Zambia 6-5 and keep their medal dreams flickering on Thursday.
But he knows they must improve out of all recognition to avoid defeat against four-time champs USA in Marseille on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), an outcome that would in all likelihood eliminate them from the tournament at the group stage.
Describing their defending as “s***”, straight-talking Gustavsson was not hiding away from the glaring deficiencies of his 12th-ranked side, who were ripped apart at times by the world's No.64-ranked side, inspired by their hat-trick superstar Barbra Banda.
But before concentrating on a doubtless complicated video analysis of a madcap match he described as “one of the craziest we’ve ever played”, Gustavsson and outstanding captain, two-goal Steph Catley, were more interested in praising the team’s big collective heart.
“How many times have these players done that? This is not the time to dwell about how we conceded five goals because obviously that was s***; this is the time to talk about the spirit in this team,” said Gustavsson.
Noting how they’d been shocked in just 40 seconds by Banda’s dazzling 25-metre strike, he added: “They scored on their first shot in the game and then we conceded five, and we still win? What a group of players this is, they’re so amazing.”
The Matildas eventually prevailed when veteran comeback striker Michelle Heyman came off the bench to coolly dispatch the 90th-minute clincher. As the 36-year-old put it simply: “We never gave up.”
But heart will only carry the Matildas so far.
Technically, they were found wanting in so many areas on Sunday that the US, 4-1 victors over a German side who had already given the Matildas a 3-0 hiding, must have been licking their lips for Wednesday.
“We didn’t play well,” admitted Gustavsson, admitting the team would have to work on defensive discipline at set-plays.
Yet he was encouraged by how the team began to create more opportunities, even though that was largely aided by atrocious Zambian defending, and how they came on strong while their opponents began to wilt in the stifling conditions.
“No-one can question their fitness after today - to push through that type of game when you’re three goals down with 35 minutes to go," said Gustavsson.
“There are things we can do better defensively, yes, but I think if we are fair, if you want to look at all the chances we had we were close to eight to 10 goals in this game.
“Sometimes it takes a couple of games to get into a tournament and hopefully we play our way into this tournament when it comes to form."
