It was 100 minutes of tension. Of hunched shoulders and sick stomachs. There were close calls and moments of unbridled joy that brought blessed relief.
In the end, Australia defeated North Korea 2-1 and booked their ticket to the Women’s Asian Cup semifinals and the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Were the Matildas good? Not really. Was it a convincing win? No. But football is weird. They got the goals they needed and, for the most part, kept North Korea’s multiple chances out of the back of the net.
“That’s tournament football,” Joe Montemurro said after the game.
North Korea set the tone, dominating possession 69% to 31%. They created the bulk of the chances, outshooting the Matildas 21 to four and testing the goalkeeper more with 11 shots to two on target.
Montemurro described North Korea’s play as “difficult” and “unpredictable”, requiring the Matildas to be “methodical” in their approach.
“Everyone probably felt the pressure today. They didn’t let us have a second on the ball,” was how Sam Kerr explained it.
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And that’s what was so unexpected about the game. North Korea were relentless but in the moments the Matildas did have the ball, they didn’t play as you’d expect a Montemurro-coached side to play.
Possession was not maintained. The midfield felt all over the place and forced the forward line to compensate by dropping deep. Based on this, there was an expectation that Montemurro would echo his comments from the South Korea game about being frustrated with the poor management of the ball and the lack of control.
But it turns out it was the kind of game where two truths could be held at once.
The Matildas won the game. They will play in an Asian Cup semifinal in the coming days and they became the first team to qualify for the 2027 World Cup.
The performance felt antithetical to everything Montemurro had been preaching about what he wanted to see from this team and how he wanted to play but that was intentional.
“Yes, do I want to play a possession-based game? Do I want to keep the ball? Do I want to have opportunities? It’s who I am, it’s my DNA,” he said.
“But part of my remit is to win football matches and sometimes, you have to have that flexibility.
“The players know that, it’s part of adapting to the situation. Do we want to be better with the ball? Obviously yeah, I mean there’s no doubt about that.”
“But team tournament football, unfortunately, you’ve got to sometimes play the like-for-like scenario and find a way and allow the world-class players like Sam and the others to do what they need to do.”
“And they took the moments. At this level, it’s all about moments.
The Matildas didn’t play Montemurro-style football but got the result they needed.. Paul Kane/Getty Images
The Matildas’ goals were two moments in a sea of dogged defending and minimal possession.
Alanna Kennedy continued her remarkable goalscoring form by finding the back of the net in the ninth minute. Despite being deployed as a No. 6, her form in front of goal has been nothing short of excellent.
She isn’t just scoring the headers Matildas fans are used to — from corners and crosses and last-ditch long balls when she was thrown up top in a Hail Mary move. These are the measured, well-taken chances of an attacker.
Kerr bodied the North Korean player and cut it back to Emily van Egmond but the pass was interrupted. Kennedy was there to roll the ball into a better position and strike it beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.
Kerr then got her own name on the scoresheet in the second half. The pressure of Katrina Gorry on the ball carrier saw her rush a back pass that Kerr anticipated well and stole. She cut into the box and struck a clean hit to make it 2-0, celebrating in front of an adoring home crowd.
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The rest of the team might not have had their moments, but they played their role.
Kaitlyn Torpey was the sole inclusion from the South Korea game, replacing Courtney Nevin at left back. She acquitted herself expertly, doing all the defensive jobs required of her.
Montemurro called her brilliant and was full of praise for the great job she did and her studiousness.
Mackenzie Arnold, after missing the first two games of the tournament with a calf niggle, was locked in for this game. She made the routine stops with calm authority and pulled out some more spectacular saves when required. Her stop in the 85th minute to deny An Kuk-Hyang was the pick of the lot.
There was luck involved in the win. But there was also clinical finishing and solid defending. However, employing this same approach in the semifinal feels like a risk. This performance, coupled with this outcome, feels like one that can’t be replicated.
Figuring out how to win the semifinal, against one of China and Chinese Taipei, will be a task for the coming days.
For now, the Matildas celebrate a game won, a World Cup ticket booked, and another step taken toward the trophy.
