Five burning questions as Matildas take on England in World Cup semi-final
By Emma Kemp
1. Who are the favourites?
This really depends on who you ask.
England are the reigning European champions and well-accustomed to big, consequential fixtures. That they have been beaten only once in 37 games under coach Sarina Wiegman — more on her later — is an absurd statistic which makes for terrifying reading. That the sole defeat came at the hands of Australia only adds to the intrigue.
There were mitigating factors in that 2-0 win in London in April, such as the absence of key players from both sides and the lack of a video assistant referee (VAR), but it gives the Matildas a mental edge all the same. Australia have played out of their skins during this tournament and have an entire nation — plus a large majority of the more than 75,000 spectators who will turn out at Stadium Australia — on their side. The British tabloids, interestingly, have claimed England are underdogs, a tag more regularly adopted by Australia.
“If you look at rankings, they’re favourites,” Gustavsson said. “If you look at where the players play, they have starting players in top clubs in top leagues all over the world. Not just 11, they have like 15, 16. Compared to us, we have bench players in those teams, we have players playing in the A-League, in mid-table teams in Sweden.
The Matildas at training in Sydney on Tuesday.Credit: Getty
“So if you look at all that, and you look at resources financially, obviously they are a massive favourite going into this game. But the one thing we have that they don’t have is the support and belief from the fans, and that itself is going to be massive.”
2. How will Tony Gustavsson manage fatigue?
Australia’s starters have now played a combined 5118 minutes throughout the tournament, easily the most of the three remaining teams, including England’s 4958. Their substitutes, meanwhile, have played a combined 162 minutes – the least by some margin and significantly less than England’s 289 (Spain’s substitutes have been on the pitch for 659 minutes).
Most of Gustavsson’s starting XI ran for 120 minutes against France and will be feeling every bit of that effort. The bedrock of Australia’s counterattacking style is intense pressing and explosive transitions into attack, and the Matildas have covered more ground than almost any other team.
As the tournament has gone on, questions have been asked about the potential for burnout, along with his seeming reluctance to turn to his bench and whether that signals a lack of trust in other players. His response to that has been that his squad are “extremely fit” and he has full trust in his world-class Triple-SM team (that’s sports science and sports medicine, for the uninitiated).
The relative lack of minutes given to bench players makes it unlikely he will bring any on cold for such a big match. Except, of course, Sam Kerr, who is right now looking like one of his freshest players.
Lauren James stamps on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie late in England’s round-of-16 win in Brisbane.Credit: Getty
3. How will England’s attack fare without Lauren James?
A lot of the pre-tournament chat about the Lionesses centred around their capacity to score from open play. Their 1-0 opening win over Haiti via a penalty marked 337 minutes without a non set piece goal, and calls were intensifying for Wiegman to take a punt on James. She started her against Denmark and the young Chelsea forward scored a terrific long-range goal within six minutes, before netting a brace in the 6-1 rout of China.
Now James is serving a two-match suspension for standing on Nigeria defender Michelle Alozie in the round of 16, and they were seemingly back to the drawing board against Colombia. But Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo came to the fore, aided by the pure grit of midfielder Georgia Stanway, and Australia’s back line will have taken note of these marked improvements. While Russo and Matildas left-back Steph Catley are yet to link up at Arsenal, it will help Alanna Kennedy is teammates with Hemp at Manchester City, and the Matildas have statistical proof they are a defensive unit unwilling to be penetrated.
England manager Sarina Wiegman celebrates after beating Colombia.Credit: Reuters
4. Who is in the opposing dugout?
Wiegman has a formidable honours list, including leading England to a home Euro 2022 triumph, an accomplishment that has made the 53-year-old something of a national hero. She also coached her native Netherlands to the Euro 2017 trophy and the 2019 World Cup final, and has been named FIFA’s best women’s coach three times. Gustavsson was assistant to then-United States coach Jill Ellis for that 2019 decider and had only praise for Wednesday’s opponent.
“Sarina, the work she’s done with every team she’s worked with, there’s no coincidence she is the best coach in the world,” Gustavsson said. “Any team she works with, her stats talks for itself in terms of tournament football. I think she lost only one game and that’s that game that I was lucky enough to sit on the other bench ... she’s going to be very prepared with her team. She will have a very clear plan of how to hurt us and we need to be ready for everything that’s thrown at us.”
5. What if it goes to penalties?
We’ve all witnessed what Mackenzie Arnold can do under scarcely imaginable pressure against France, and Gustavsson — along with goalkeeping coach Tony Franken — will have full faith the West Ham shot-stopper can stand tall again. She may even be in line to take another, as she unsuccessfully did against France.
“We just had the conversation before the penalties came up, Tony mentioned that I would be fifth and that’s just how it worked out with the subs,” Arnold said on Tuesday. “He asked me if I was happy to take it and I said yes. If it went in we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but unfortunately I didn’t. I’m confident enough to take that position [again] if that’s what I’m called upon.”
Earps was also between the posts for England’s round-of-16 shootout win, during which Nigeria missed two spot-kicks and England buried all except one.
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