The Matildas have suffered their first loss since the FIFA World Cup, going down 5-0 in a brutal defeat to Canada in a friendly on Saturday afternoon (AEDT).
Having already progressed to the next stage of Olympic qualification with dominant wins over Chinese Tapei, Iran and the Philippines, the stakes were lower against Canada and Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson opted for an experimental side.
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Sam Kerr and Mackenzie Arnold were unavailable due to injury, and picked a second string starting XI, blooding two debutants in Sarah Hunter and Charlie Rule.
But the Matildas B-team were thrown to the wolves on a cold night in British Colombia on a synthetic pitch that didn’t suit Australia’s style of play.
Canada’s Nichelle Prince scored a first half double but the Matildas struggled, not managing a single shot or even a corner in the opening 45 minutes.
The Matildas defeated Canada 4-0 in the group stage of the World Cup earlier this year in arguably their best performance of the tournament, but it was a different story this time around.
Gustavsson was criticised during the World Cup for not turning to his substitutes, and former Socceroo Andy Harper said the Matildas coach missed a trick by not including at least a couple of experienced players in the starting XI.
Harper said on Channel 10: “It begs the question when you go for an experiment, what exactly is the point of the experiment?
“Very clearly a lot of the players in the first half have been completely exposed. Is that what he wanted out of this? Who is going to come through.
“And then you run the risk of someone who may be feels a little poorly after their 45 minutes and you drag them and you compound the problem.
“Somehow we’ve hung girls out to dry in the driving rain.
“I don’t know why we had to go down this path. It’s extraordinarily disappointing.
“I don’t understand why Clare Wheeler couldn’t play next to Kyra Cooney-Cross, or Sarah Hunter couldn’t play alongisde Katrina Gorry.
“It’s almost like cannon fodder. Use the two games to mix and match.”
The Canadians added three more goals in the second half through Simi Awujo, Cloe Lacasse and Adriana Leon, completely humilating the Matildas defence.
It took until the 74th minute for Mary Fowler to get the Matildas their first shot on target after she came off the bench.
Fowler, Katrina Gorry, Alanna Kennedy, Hayley Raso, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Emily van Egmond came on in the second half, but by then the damage was done.
It was the Matildas’ heaviest loss since a 7-0 defeat to Spain in a 2022 friendly, when Gustavvsson also blooded an inexperienced side.
The Matildas will play another friendly against Canada on Wednesday before turning their attention to their next Olympic qualifier against Uzbekistan in February.