’Growing pains’ as Matildas slump to another dismal loss amid legend’s touching farewell

An otherwise memorable 2023 has ended on a disappointing note for the Matildas, who have suffered back-to-back losses to Canada.

Thrashed 5-0 last Saturday when fielding a second-string team, a near full-strength Matildas outfit again fell short on Wednesday (AEDT) in Vancouver, losing 1-0 to the reigning Olympic Games gold medallists.

While the Australians had a couple of second half chances, they rarely threatened in a lacklustre final outing of a year that was highlighted by them reaching the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson’s desire for his side to adopt a new style of possession-based play to give them more versatility ahead of next year’s Olympic Games failed to reap rewards, with Canada rarely troubled in front of more than 48,000 fans.

It was described by Channel 10’s Andy Harper as an “anaemic” performance.

Captain Steph Catley told Channel 10: “It was an interesting one... we’re trying a few different things, a few different ways of playing. Sometimes that has growing pains.”

She added: “There’s definitely positives to take out of the game but in the end a set piece cost us and that's not good enough for us as a team.”

As expected, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson fielded an almost entirely different 11 to the team that started in Saturday’s embarrassing 5-0 loss to Canada.

Goalkeeper Teagan Micah was the only player to hold her spot, and that was only because of first-choice custodian Mackenzie Arnold’s injury enforced absence from the squad.

Apart from the absence of Arnold and skipper Sam Kerr – who is also injured – Wednesday’s starting team was the Matildas’ best possible line-up.

Besides Micah, the team was identical to the one that beat Canada 4-0 in the final