Australia vs. Nigeria
A riveting affair at the Suncorp stadium in Brisbane kept a rapturous crowd of nearly 50,000 live attendees and observers across the globe on the edge of their seats on Thursday evening. Co-hosts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia faced a Nigerian side in their second group-stage fixture of the competition. The Waltzing Matildas dominated their opponents in every last statistical category, yet still ended up dropping the match to the African side.
The shock result blows Group B wide open. Nigeria’s surprise victory – coupled with Canada’s win over their win over the Republic of Ireland last night – leaves the Aussies in the elimination zone entering the final group-stage match-day. Pressure mounts on the co-hosts, though the many positive takeaways from tonight’s 2-3 loss will leave the team feeling as if qualification for the knockouts can still be accomplished.
A win against Canada in Melbourne on Monday will suffice to send Tony Gustavsson’s side through.
Tactical Analysis: Australia
We’ll lead with some statistics this evening in oder to explain why the losing side’s tactics are analyzed first. The Matildas maintained a 3:1 advantage in both shots and overall xG. Possession tilt came in on a 65-35 split. Australia also executed twice as many line breaks and passes. Gustavsson’s side even earned an astounding 15 corners (most of which furnished some danger) to Nigeria’s two. Nigeria’s initial goal came courtesy of a freak deflection off Allie Carpenter. The second was scored off a corner that also had some luck tagged to it. The third resulted from an unfortunate miscommunication between defender Alanna Kennedy and keeper Mackenzie Arnold.
As if all of that wasn’t enough, the Aussie manager appeared to get his tactics spot on. The Matildas have a certified “ringer” running their team with the former Jill Ellis assistant. The 49-year-old Swede knows full well how to steer a team to a World Championship with subtle and unexpected tactical tweaks. Many of us writers prepared to file a glowing piece on the tactical masterclass he pulled off tonight. Alas, football is under no obligation to follow anyone’s pre-conceived script.
When the team sheets were released, one assumed a “safety-first” 5-4-1. Ostensibly, it would be the veteran Emily can Egmond – the lone change from the previous XI after Mary Fowler incurred an injury in training – bolting the defense together as a sweeper. The constellation that quickly crystalized on the overhead cannot be described via any of the traditional footballing delineations. One can best describe it as 5-1-4 or a 5-2-3; neither of which are generally used. The author opts for the latter.
Lineup—Australia—Match Two (5-2-3)
Katrina Gorry quickly settled in as the de-facto sweeper. In truth, the 30-year-old was often breaking right in order to drive the attack forward. Whenever she did, Kyra Cooney-Cross folded back down ahead of the back-four and van Egmond pushed high central. After some awkwardness in the opening ten minutes, this plan produced the brilliant effect of giving Hayley Raso a chance to shine on the right. Ellie Carpenter sometimes joined in too. With these two drawing markers, Caitlin Foord was free to cut through any attacking lane she liked.
The Aussie attack proceeded to pick up steam early. Raso and Gorry executed gorgeous dribbles before the 12th was out. The seemingly endless series of Australian corners commenced a minute later. There were some instances in which the Africans appeared dangerous on the counter during the first half, but the uncompromising pressing from Raso, Foord, and Cortnee Vine ensured that Randy Waldrum’s team couldn’t even begin to get their own attack builds stared. Gustavsson’s attacking trio forced 19 (!!) turnovers out of the Nigerian back ranks in the opening 45.
After knocking on the door from both open play and well-designed corner services for the entirely of the opening period, the co-hosts finally got their well-deserved lead in the first minute of first-half added time. The scorer was none other than van Egmond from one of her high pushes at 45+1. Foord capped a thus-far brilliant performance with the assist. Gorry won the initial ball. Everything made sense until Nigeria equalized out of nowhere at 45+6. Carpenter inadvertently deflected a ball directly onto Uchenna Kanu’s feet. Totally random.
Gorry just missed out on restoring the lead after the restart, blasting over following a fine run in the 47th. Foord, Raso, and van Egmond looked every bit as good as they did before the change-of-ends. More fluid play, chances, and promising corners. The Aussies continued to fight hard for every second and third ball. It proved a real treat to watch. A second goal seemed only a matter of time. Then – again out of nowhere – Nigeria scored the 2-1 off a corner in the 65th. Rasheedat Ajibade forced a parry out of Arnold with a header. Osinachi Ohale was able to bungle home.
We arrive at the point at which the match got turned on its head. Australian defender Alanna Kennedy attempted to clear the ball off the line, but accidentally delivered a blind drop kick straight to Ohale’s chest. One could tell that Kennedy remained rattled after the scene. This ultimately led to the miscue between Kennedy and Arnold that enabled Nigeria to go up 3-1 in the 72nd. Somehow the keeper and her defender couldn’t work out who was meant to claim a ball. The subbed on Asisat Oshoala accepted the invitation and pounced.
To Kennedy’s immense credit, she did just about everything she could to make amends. The Manchester City professional nearly pulled a goal back immediately with a fine header off a corner in the 78th. Without exception, all the Aussie outfielders went full-throttle down the stretch. Raso, Foord, van Egmond and Carpenter all generated chances. Aussie legend Claire Polkinghorne and Alex Chidiac made their contributions off the bench. Kennedy finally scored the pull-back goal at 90+10. Carpenter nearly equalized at 90+11.
An instant classic.
Top Performers, Australia
1) Katrina Gorry
The primary driver out of the Aussie somehow never dipped in energy throughout the entire affair. An absolutely sensational game from the team’s selected midfield engine, whether she was carrying or telegraphing long balls from the deep. Gorry never strayed far from the ball and never stopped moving. The co-hosts looked the most up-tempo attacking side the writer has seen thus far in this tournament thanks in large part to her. So many brilliant attacking sequences ran through her. Top marks for optics and sheer, unadulterated heart.
2) Steph Catley
The captain wasn’t able to get her name on the scoresheet again, but came close with many of her quality dead-ball-services. She also banged the team forward out of the back on opportune occasions with some great ball wins. All of the Matilda outfielders actually impressed with their presence in the ground duels. Carpenter did an exceptional job as well. Catley furnished a memorable night in that she chased balls down from all angles, even moving over to Carpenter’s side when she sensed she could help the charge. Both Gorry and Catley aided van Egmond immensely.
3) Hayley Raso/Cortnee Vine/Caitlin Foord
We’ve really no choice here but to include the three stars from the last match’s write-up once again. The ribboned Raso obviously stole the show with her silky smooth moves on the ball and her deadly press off it. Vine didn’t find herself involved in as many attacking moves, but generated almost as many Nigerian turnovers as Raso. Foord again routinely showed no fear in taking on two, three, or even four markers at time. No sense in looking up Foord’s heat-map in the attacking third. Trust the author. She was literally all over the place. Sensational.
Tactical Analysis: Nigeria
In a re-match of the second group stage game of the 2015 competition, the African powerhouse has exacted revenge. Though the result here didn’t necessarily conform to the level-of-play seen on the pitch, it did at least conjure up some nice memories of the Super Falcons’ 2-0 win over South Korea at this stage in the 2019 tournament. Nigerian manager Randy Waldrum raised some eyebrows when he made three changes to the XI deployed against Canada in his country’s opener.
Lineup—Nigeria—Match One (4-2-3-1)
Deborah Abiodun had to sit out on a red-card-suspension. The two surprises came when Waldrum’s team sheet featured neither Francisca Ordega nor Asisat Oshoala. Two heavily capped veterans took a seat in favor of – to be fair – also experienced attackers Uchenna Kanu and Rasheedat Ajibade.
Ifeoma Chukwufumnaya Onumonu – whom many of us had been impressed by in the opening match – got a chance to spearhead the new attack. Halimatu Ayinde worked in as the safety-pin in Abiodun’s absence.
Lineup—Nigeria—Match Two (4-1-4-1)
It did get the job done in the sense that it kept the Africans in the game. Ayinde started a few nice on the few occasions when she did get to start the play. As noted above, Ajibade supplied the sublime header that enabled them to take the lead. Despite some of the more glaring looses, Michelle Alozie and Oluwatosin Demehin contested and won some impressive ground duels. The defensive discipline on dead-balls proved crucial. So many Aussie shots off corners were blocked by the Nigerian ranks.
Top Performers, Nigeria
1) Toni Payne
The former U.S. youth international only switched allegiances a couple of years ago, meaning most of us haven’t had a chance to see her in a major tournament yet. One must say the 28-year-old’s pace really catches the eye and remains with one afterward. Man, is she fast! The Duke alumna got some useful counterattacks rolling in this one and helped ensure that the Falcons always lurked on the rare broken Aussie plays. Ayinde and Christy Ucheibe had their moments in this regard too.
2) Uchenna Kanu
It took some focus from the Racing Louisville forward to finish off the equalizer on the last play of the first half. She shrugged off a bad miss and a somewhat embarrassing slip to bring her team right back into a match that threatened to get away from them. It takes some steel nerves to forget a disappointing start and seize the moment. The author also really liked her presence on aerial duels (not one loss observed) and tight ball control on a few nice dribbles.