The biggest danger facing the Matildas in their quest for World Cup progression is complacency in the face of their final group stage opponent, Jamaica, who have so far proved to be the easybeats of the group having lost 3-0 to Brazil and 5-0 to Italy.
The ''Reggae Girlz'' have been given a baptism of fire and while they have been shown to be well off the pace in their first two games, they will be desperate to salvage some pride in their final assignment of their first World Cup: the Matildas on Wednesday morning (AEST).
The equation for the Matildas is simple: win this game, and they could top the group and get what would look to be one of the easier round-of-16 knockout opponents (China, Nigeria or Chile), which should guarantee a smoother path to the quarter-finals. The reward for finishing top of group C would be to return to Montpellier, which now holds great memories for them.
Matildas coach Ante Milicic and Ellie Carpenter.Credit:AP
Matildas coach Ante Milicic says nothing will be taken lightly as they prepare for Jamaica.
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''We watched them in the analysis when they played Brazil. Our main focus was the first game for Italy – we put a lot of effort into that preparation, and at the same time Brazil," he said.
''That was no disrespect – we knew we would have two World Cup games to go off plus their past games.
''We know its going to be a different style – we watched them play against Brazil in the first game. As always we will go through our analysis, work through opposition strengths and weakness, and come up with a game plan that suits out playing style.''
A quarter-final berth, given Australia's world ranking of six, was the minimum expectation going into this tournament, but it won't be easy to secure.
If Australia beat Jamaica they will finish with six points. If the Brazilians beat Italy, they too will finish with six points from their two wins, as would the Italians.
All three would definitely qualify for the next phase – even the third-placed team would, with six points, easily make it through as one of the four best third-placed teams – but in what order?
Group order would be decided by goal difference.
Going into the final match Brazil has a goal difference of plus two, having scored five and conceded three (3-0 over Jamaica, 2-3 v Australia). Italy's is an impressive plus six, having beaten Jamaica 5-0 and Australia 2-1.
The Matildas are on a zero goal difference, having scored four and conceded the same amount following a 1-2 loss to the Italians and a 3-2 win over Brazil.
If goal difference (highly unlikely now) is unable to separate the teams, then number of goals scored would be the tie-breaker.
Failing that, head to head results would next be looked at, but that would be of little use as, in that scenario, all three teams would have beaten each other.
Ultimately yellow and red cards would also be called to determine the difference in order, but it is hugely unlikely such a state would be reached.
Italy are the only nation in control of their own destiny, as they need only to draw with Brazil to finish with seven points and top the group.
If that was the result, and Australia beat Jamaica, as expected, then the Matildas, with six points, would finish second, ensuring a trip to Nice for a round-of-16 clash, most probably with Norway.
The last thing any of the three teams wants is to finish third and qRead More – Source
The biggest danger facing the Matildas in their quest for World Cup progression is complacency in the face of their final group stage opponent, Jamaica, who have so far proved to be the easybeats of the group having lost 3-0 to Brazil and 5-0 to Italy.
The ''Reggae Girlz'' have been given a baptism of fire and while they have been shown to be well off the pace in their first two games, they will be desperate to salvage some pride in their final assignment of their first World Cup: the Matildas on Wednesday morning (AEST).
The equation for the Matildas is simple: win this game, and they could top the group and get what would look to be one of the easier round-of-16 knockout opponents (China, Nigeria or Chile), which should guarantee a smoother path to the quarter-finals. The reward for finishing top of group C would be to return to Montpellier, which now holds great memories for them.
Matildas coach Ante Milicic and Ellie Carpenter.Credit:AP
Matildas coach Ante Milicic says nothing will be taken lightly as they prepare for Jamaica.
Advertisement
''We watched them in the analysis when they played Brazil. Our main focus was the first game for Italy – we put a lot of effort into that preparation, and at the same time Brazil," he said.
''That was no disrespect – we knew we would have two World Cup games to go off plus their past games.
''We know its going to be a different style – we watched them play against Brazil in the first game. As always we will go through our analysis, work through opposition strengths and weakness, and come up with a game plan that suits out playing style.''
A quarter-final berth, given Australia's world ranking of six, was the minimum expectation going into this tournament, but it won't be easy to secure.
If Australia beat Jamaica they will finish with six points. If the Brazilians beat Italy, they too will finish with six points from their two wins, as would the Italians.
All three would definitely qualify for the next phase – even the third-placed team would, with six points, easily make it through as one of the four best third-placed teams – but in what order?
Group order would be decided by goal difference.
Going into the final match Brazil has a goal difference of plus two, having scored five and conceded three (3-0 over Jamaica, 2-3 v Australia). Italy's is an impressive plus six, having beaten Jamaica 5-0 and Australia 2-1.
The Matildas are on a zero goal difference, having scored four and conceded the same amount following a 1-2 loss to the Italians and a 3-2 win over Brazil.
If goal difference (highly unlikely now) is unable to separate the teams, then number of goals scored would be the tie-breaker.
Failing that, head to head results would next be looked at, but that would be of little use as, in that scenario, all three teams would have beaten each other.
Ultimately yellow and red cards would also be called to determine the difference in order, but it is hugely unlikely such a state would be reached.
Italy are the only nation in control of their own destiny, as they need only to draw with Brazil to finish with seven points and top the group.
If that was the result, and Australia beat Jamaica, as expected, then the Matildas, with six points, would finish second, ensuring a trip to Nice for a round-of-16 clash, most probably with Norway.
The last thing any of the three teams wants is to finish third and qRead More – Source
