Key events
Would winning this game be a bad thing for the USA?
The first-place team in this group will face the second-place team in Group C, the Group of Death. If current scores hold, that’ll be Japan.
The second-place team in this group will face the second-place team in Group A. That’ll likely be France or Canada, but given Canada’s six-point penalty, Colombia would just need a draw to take that second spot. And in any case, Japan might be a tougher out than Canada at this point.
If a third-place team advances from this group, they’ll play the winner of Group A or Group C. Nothing like a lovely matchup against Spain to get a team’s attention.
And just as I hit “send,” Spain finally break through the stubborn Brazilian resistance to take a 1-0 lead.
I would expect the next 20 minutes to be extremely dull.
What’s at stake
For some reason, the Olympic women’s soccer tournament is only 12 teams, which gives us the awkward format in which each group’s top two teams and the two best third-place teams go through.
That means the USA are through, regardless of today’s results.
The Group B standings:
6 USA (+6 goal difference)
3 Germany (0 goal difference)
3 Australia (-2)
0 Zambia (-4)
In an absolute worst-case scenario for the Americans, in which Australia win today by at least four goals and Germany beat Zambia by at least two, the USA might drop to third place, pending other tiebreakers. But because Canada have suffered a massive six-point penalty and gone out and won two games anyway, there’s no way the third-place team in Group A can match the USA’s six points.
The Group A standings:
3 Colombia (+1)
3 France (0)
0 Canada (+2)
0 New Zealand (-3)
So there’s no way the third-place finisher would have more than three points, which means Australia would qualify with a draw.
If Australia lose, they’d have a slim chance of advancing. A Canadian loss or draw against Colombia would likely clinch a spot for the Matildas, barring a shocking result in the New Zealand-France game.
Finishing ahead of the third-place team in Group C is even less likely. Here’s how they stood before kickoff:
6 Spain (+2)
3 Japan (0)
3 Brazil (0)
0 Nigeria (-2)
Current scores:
Spain 0-0 Brazil – the big news is that one of the game’s all-time greats, Marta, was shown a red card for a high foot into a Spanish player’s head. She left the field, possibly for the last time on a major stage, in tears.
Japan 3-1 Nigeria
Even with 10 players, Brazil aren’t likely to concede three goals in 25 minutes plus stoppage time, and Spain would have no incentive to get them.
Australia lineup
What jumps out to me here is how much experience the Matildas have on the bench.
The back line is Steph Catley, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy and Ellie Carpenter.
Kaitlyn Torpey and Katrina Gorry anchor the midfield behind the Arsenal duo of Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross, along with the peripatetic Hayley Raso. The ever-dangerous Mary Fowler is up front.
Even without Sam Kerr, the Australian lineup boasts seven players in The Guardian’s global top 100 – Foord (32), Fowler (56), Carpenter (58), Catley (60), Arnold (77), Raso (87), Cooney-Cross (89).
Arnold (Portland) and Torpey (San Diego) play in the USA, as do substitutes Emily van Egmond (San Diego) and Cortnee Vine (North Carolina).
USA lineup
As reported on this rather elegant graphic …
The change is Emily Sonnett replacing Tierna Davidson in central defense alongside Naomi Girma, though don’t be surprised if Sonnett, who has done some time in midfield, plays a bit further up.
Another versatile player, Crystal Dunn, is at left back but will be expected to contribute offensively. Emily Fox is on the right.
Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan and Sam Coffey will play amorphous roles in midfield. Lavelle, on her day, is one of the most astute playmakers the USA have ever had – typically, the USA don’t have a traditional No. 10, but she can fit the bill.
Mallory Swanson has the central role up front between Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman.
Preamble
Welcome to the group-stage finale in women’s soccer, a rekindling of the multihemispherical rivalry between the USA and Australia, and a matchup between two teams coming into this game on a massive high.
The US women played one of their best games in recent memory last time out, beating a talented and tough German team 4-1. Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman are breaking through as one of the most potent attacking trios the USA have ever had. Naomi Girma has quickly become one of the world’s top center backs. Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan have been inconsistent, but at their best, they’re tough to contain.
Australia’s hopes were all but gone 56 minutes into their game against Zambia, a team boasting the two most expensive players in women’s soccer. Racheal Kundananji’s second goal, added to Barbra Banda’s customary hat trick, gave the African side a 5-2 lead. An own goal brought Australia back into it. Steph Catley, an ever-reliable player not known for her goal-scoring exploits, scored a brace to tie it. Then Michelle Heyman, who came out of international retirement when the world-class striker Sam Kerr went out injured, netted the winner.
Get the popcorn. If you’re in Australia, get the caffeine. Let’s watch what could be a gem of a game.
Beau will be here shortly, but here’s how the Matildas kept their hopes alive with a wild win in their last game:
The greatest escape? In the history of international football, there have been comebacks. There have been thrillers. And then there was whatever the hell played out between Zambia and Australia in Nice on Sunday night.
The Matildas recovered from a three-goal deficit, a hat-trick from Zambian sensation Barbra Banda and a brace from the most expensive signing in women’s football Racheal Kundananji, to somehow emerge victorious. If the Matildas needed a heart attack to restart their Olympic campaign, they got one – and the three points that might just keep them at Paris 2024 beyond the group stage.
Perhaps never before has such an exciting game of Olympic football been enjoyed first-hand by so few. Only several thousand spectators had made the trek to the Stade de Nice, on the outskirts of the Mediterranean city. But they were treated to something spectacular and surreal, a see-sawing clash of attacking brilliance and defensive frailty of the kind rarely witnessed at this rarefied international level.
Already the obituaries were being written for the Matildas’ Olympic campaign. Already fans back home were sharpening their knives. Like the Marie Antoinette character in Friday’s opening ceremony, Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson’s head was firmly on the chopping block. Until suddenly it wasn’t.
1-0 Zambia. 1-1 Australia. 2-1 Zambia. 3-1 Zambia. 3-2 Australia. 4-2 Zambia. 5-2 Zambia. 5-3 Australia. 5-4 Australia. 5-5 Australia, through a VAR-awarded penalty, coolly slotted home by captain Steph Catley.
And then, at the death, super-sub Michelle Heyman found herself through on goal.
You can read the full report below: