Beaten by a better team unfortunately.
Their defence was very well organised, I don't know much about Association Football but you could just see how well they defended.
Australia managed to create some very good chances in the second half, but we were just not quite good enough - the cross was a little off or the finish just wasn't there. Plus, England's defence was very difficult.
Sam Kerr's goal was legendary, what more can you say, spectacular, what a player.
Our defence far less organised. Those first 2 goals were too easy, could have defended both situations better.
It is what it is, England are simply a better team.
Great achievement by the Matildas, semi finals is pretty epic given the state of soccer in this country. Our players all play overseas because the A League and W League really are not much chop. Not sure if we can get any closer to he top in soccer, men will never get this far, but to compete against the best we need to be a notch above where we are now.
Oh well on to the final - Viva Espana.
DS
Regarding the men, wouldn't say never DS. Sure, the current dynamics mean you are competing with a deeper field in the men's tournament, which makes it extremely difficult. Plus the sporting landscape we have within Australia, with largely domestic codes of football taking a massive chunk of the male talent pool is another point of difficulty (this being a major contributing factor as to why our female athletes perform comparatively better in the Olympics than our men).
But, the World Cup two years ago, the Australian team on paper looked the weakest in years. Only just struggled into the tournament at the last moment. Looked expectedly outclassed for large periods of the opening game vs France. But after that were surprisingly solid. Made the knockout round and took Argentina (the eventual Champs) all the way in the round of 16. Certainly had our chances to score in the last moments to take it to extra time.
And remember in 2002, in a home World Cup, South Korea made the semis. Traditionally a very similarly ranked side to Australia and one of our main opponents for supremacy in the Asian Confederation.
In the broadcast last night there was a discussion about how the Matildas efforts aren't just a win for women's soccer in Australia. It was a win for the sport's profile in Australia overall. There were hundreds of thousands of little girls and little boys watching. And those boys can only aspire to be Socceroos, not Matildas (at this stage, despite some bizarre activism on this front). So it was just the fact that the sport has had such visibility that helps so much. Would it have captured the imagination of the nation quite as much if it was out of our timezone? The more dedicated followers yes. But for the casual, more fair-weather non-sport watching public? Or children who cannot sit up to the wee hours? Probably not. It's all about visibility. Visibility of the tournament being right here, and the bonus of the host nation going deep into the tournament combining as the perfect storm. A very shrewd move by FFA (and the NZ equivalent body) going after this tournament so hard. Some scoffed that it was a consolation prize after missing out on hosting 2022. But has turned out to be as powerful a marketing tool, albeit in some different ways.
Agree, go Spain. Really like their style of play. Enjoyable team to watch. And a great story too. In under a decade, they went from not even qualifying, to rifling straight up the rankings to the sharp end. Can see the likes of Argentina, The Balkans, Italy and co doing the same as they put more resources into their women's sides. Africa too. Will make it harder for the likes of Australia, the US and Canada. But great for the progression of the game overall.
