FIFA Womens World Cup – The Matildas vs Brazil

FIFA Womens World Cup – The Matildas vs Brazil [VIDEO]

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The 2015 Women’s World Cup has entered the round of 16 with Australia taking on the undefeated Brazil at Moncton Stadium. The winner of this clash sets up a quarter-final meeting with the victor between Japan and the Netherlands.

Although the Matildas tournament did not get off to an ideal start, with a 3-1 defeat to the eventual group winners USA, two positive results against Nigeria and Sweden – a 2-0 win and a 1-1 draw respectively – meant the Australians finished second in their group. Lisa De Vanna and Kyah Simon have scored the four goals for the Matildas.

Brazil breezed through their Group E matches with three victories and three clean sheets. A 2-0 win over South Korea was followed by 1-0 wins over both Costa Rica and Spain. The Samba Queens have had four different goal scorers at this tournament – Raquel, Andressa Alves, Formiga and Marta – with the latter two highly influential to the success of this Brazil team.

Key battle – Marta vs Caitlin Foord

Widely considered as the greatest ever female footballer, with five player of the year awards to her name, the individual brilliance of Marta is difficult for the best of defenders to contend with. At 20-years of age, Caitlin Foord will be tasked with containing Marta and reducing her impact on the game. Despite sounding like an insurmountable task, Foord has done it before. At her debut World Cup in 2011, at the age of 16, Foord kept Marta quiet for majority of the Matildas’ 1-0 loss. The Australians and their fans will be hoping for a repeat performance in Moncton.

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Team news

Coach Alen Stajcic has a full squad at his disposal, ready to test themselves against this Brazilian side. The midfield trio of Katrina Gorry, Emily van Egmond and Elise Kellond-Knight will be crucial to the Matildas’ success in this match.

Australia expected XI: Williams; Alleway, Foord, Kennedy, Catley; Kellond-Knight, Gorry, Van Egmond; Kerr, De Vanna, Simon

Thanks to their relatively easy run in the group stages of this World Cup, Brazil had the luxury of resting a number of key players in their final group match against Costa Rica. The likes of Marta, Formiga and Christiane are certain to return to the starting XI for this game.

Brazil expected XI: Luciana; Fabiana, Rafaelle, Monica, Tamires; Formiga, Andressa, Thaisa; Marta, Christiane, A. Alves

Previous meeting

These teams have met twice before at the Women’s World Cup, at the group stage in 2011 and at the quarter-finals in 2007. Brazil were victorious on both occasions, with 1-0 and 3-2 wins respectively.

Lisa De Vanna was on the score sheet back in 2007 for the Australians, while Brazil’s three goals came from current players Marta, Formiga and Christiane.

Prediction

This match has the potential to be a thrilling and entertaining clash. There is no doubt that both sides have plenty of attacking options with the flair of the Brazilians and the creativity of the Australians setting up what could be a goal-filled game. The battle of the midfield looks set to decide the winner, with Australian needing to minimise the supply of the ball to Brazil’s front three in order to restrict their opportunities on goal; the Brazilians have averaged over 15 shots in their three group matches. Australia’s back four are more than capable of dealing with the Brazilian attack, however, the girls will need to be alert for the full 90 minutes; a lapse in concentration is almost certain to prove costly. Brazil’s full backs will have to deal not only with the pace and determination of De Vanna and Kerr but watch out for the overlapping runs of Catley and Foord. The wide areas could prove to be Australia’s best route to goal.

Australia 2 Brazil 1

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