The Matildas have conceded late to draw 2-2 with Germany in their second match of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Australia had a brilliant start against the world number two in Germany, opening the scoring in the sixth minute. Caitlin Foord glided past defenders, setting up Sam Kerr who smashed it home first time.
Both sides were keen to attack early which lead to an end to end contest, a mixture of good attack and great defence.
Germany tried their luck from range and via the aerial route to no avail and Australia looked to break on the counter attack and threatened the German defence on multiple occasions.
The Matildas got their second goal just before half time with Foord on the end of some excellent work from Kyah Simon and Lisa De Vanna.
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But Germany hit back immediately through Sara Daebritz, whose shot off the outside of her left boot was the last kick of the half.
The Germans continued to pressure the Australians and the Matildas continued to look more and more dangerous when given the chance to break. The team couldn’t capitalise on some top shelf chances and were eventually punished in the 88th minute.
Germany’s captain Saskia Bartusiak bundled the ball into the back of the net at the far post off a free kick ensuring the teams would share the points.
Caitlin Foord is a superstar
Caitlin Foord is incredibly versatile, is exceptionally quick and athletic and put all of these skills on show today against the Germans. She set up Sam Kerr for the first goal, running from the defensive half, moving past her opponents with ease, before laying off the ball for her Perth Gory team mate.
She then became the goal scorer after Kyah Simon’s ball over the top to Lisa De Vanna saw Australia’s captain take it to the by-line, nutmeg her opponent and square the ball up for Foord to finish.
Australia’s number nine is such a talent and this game definitely highlighted the best of her abilities. At only 21, there will be plenty more of Foord to come and, scarily, she can only get better.
Settled team
There was a noticeable difference in the Matildas. It was a completely different start from the team in green and gold – aided by not conceding a goal early on. This team looked all business from the very beginning, whereas against Canada the sense of occasion may have detrimentally affected the team’s focus, even minutely.
But there was none of that today. The team was sharp and quick, they were alert and aggressive in the attack and incredibly solid in defence. This performance, barring the lack of finishing as the second half wore on, was exactly what fans of the Matildas expected from the team and why they were talked up so much prior to the Games beginning.
Looking ahead
It goes without saying a win for the Matildas would have been ideal, putting less pressure on the team to get a result against Zimbabwe and keep their future at the Games in their own control.
It is definitely a positive that Australia was able to come away with a point and it should be enough to see the team progress through to the quarter finals but this is entirely dependent on beating Zimbabwe – anything less than three points simply won’t do.
Moreover, the team needs to win big; a sizeable goal difference can only be beneficial to the cause.
But the Matildas can be proud of their much improved performance and will once again take the lessons learnt from the match and put them to use.
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