by Ben Gilby (14/3/23)
Above: The Young Matildas in the huddle ahead of their semi-final with Japan yesterday. Photo supplied to Impetus 71 by: Football Australia.
Despite their 5-1 defeat to Japan in the semi-final of the U20 Asia Cup, the Young Matildas have much to be proud of. The Japanese, runners-up at the last U20 World Cup, were only 2-1 up with eight minutes to go. Head coach Leah Blayney and players Sasha Grove and Chloe Lincoln were in a reflective mood as they spoke about the encounter.
Blayney was clearly proud of her charges, saying: “We were able to implement a game plan against a superior opponent for 75 minutes, and the girls’ commitment to that game plan and their commitment and effort that they put into the national team jersey yesterday for one minute can’t be faulted.
“In terms of coming up against a world-class opponent in an under 20 semi-final of an Asian championship with an average age of 17 and a half is something that is only going to propel these young players’ careers moving forward and the opportunities and experiences that we’re going to want to seek and relish because that provides the most growth and development.”
The Young Matildas showed real resilience in coming back from conceding after just three minutes to not just hit back, but hold the outstanding Japanese level until just after the hour mark. For Blayney, it was a prime example of the game plan being implemented to perfection.
“(We knew we had to) be defensively disciplined with a game plan that had to be executed to a ‘t’. We knew that they were a little bit vulnerable on counter-attacks and given the opportunity for us to execute from it, we were able to score. Relative to all of those things, the performance of our young players – the maturity that they displayed, which is only going to improve with these further exposures is something that we can take positives out of.”
It was the second U20 Asia Cup in a row that the Young Matildas have faced Japan in the semi-final stages. In 2019, Japan ran out comfortable 7-0 winners. This time round in Tashkent, the Young Nadeshiko were just 2-1 ahead with seven minutes remaining. That shows both maturity and progress.
“Those challenges are going to be what continues to propel this team going forward,” Blayney explained.
The Young Matildas will now end their tournament the way it started – with an encounter against South Korea in the third/fourth place play-off. Australia came from behind to win 2-1 in the group stage in a game played in farcical conditions. The Australia U20 boss believes the team understand what they need to do in order to succeed on Saturday.
“We know we are going into a tough match against another world-class opponent in Asia. We’ll take the learnings from the first match as we build toward a Youth World Cup. (The keys to success will be) Defensive discipline for the whole 90 minutes and taking our opportunities as we go forward.”
Canberra United defender Sasha Grove believes that the hard outcome of Wednesday’s semi-final will be a case of short-term pain for long-term gain.
Being exposed to a game against a team who have won this tournament six times, won the U20 World Cup, and indeed finished the previous World Cup as runners-up to the all-conquering Spanish, provides all the lessons that this Australian group need in order to reach for the stars.
“While the result wasn’t what we wanted, there is still so much for us to be proud of and there is still an opportunity for us to make history in our next game,” (by beating South Korea to finish third).
“It’s hard not to admire them (Japan) in everything they do – the way they play their football. They’re technical, they’re smart, they’re fast. What they may not have physically, they make up for in their brains. That was definitely something we really had to fight against.
“We were really stoic in that first half. We needed to keep it up in the last 15 minutes as that’s when they really hit us hard. It was such a blessing for us to play against them as we are all professional footballers and that’s the standard we aspire to, so we acknowledge that and we’re going to use all of our learnings for our next game.”
Grove is a real student of the game, her thinking and reflection skills are of the highest order. In terms of what she took personally from the semi-final to further enhance her defensive skills, she outlined two in particular.
“Timing and discipline is the biggest thing against teams who are so good getting the ball in behind…At the end of the day, it goes to every single player before the ball can go in the back of the net, so it’s down to every one of us to make sure that we protect that goal zone.”
As far as the learnings for the whole team go, Grove recognises that if they can take the best of the Japanese skill and technical ability and mix it with the senior Matildas side’s qualities, they will be on to a winner.
“We’re so inspired by the senior national team and their ‘Never Say Die’ – that’s something we really pride ourselves on as well. We went down 1-0 in the first half and we got a goal and it stayed at 1-1 for a very long time and that’s just the fight and determination in the girls…It’s making sure we can sustain that for a whole 90-minute performance.”
“It’s taking a step back and taking a breath for a moment. Losses are really very important in the game of football, it’s where we learn the most…this is a fantastic opportunity for us to take a step back, review what we did wrong, fix everything that we need to improve on and really come on South Korea with fire because they’re not going to let us win easily, or we them.”
Sasha Grove, Australia U20 and Canberra United.
Young Matildas goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln revealed how the intensity of the Japanese game plan provided her with a real challenge in managing her communication with her backline.
“It was tough to communicate because Japan are so fluid with their movement. There was a lot going on at once. The goal was to prioritise what was needed in a moment. It was definitely a tough one, for sure.
“We always knew going into the game that it was going to be really tough. Japan are a world-class team…at the end of the day, they were the better team and were able to show that in the stats of the game. With the technical team that they are, they were able to connect passes. We had to try and defend that for the whole 90. They just outclassed us, unfortunately.”
Whilst Japan provided the Young Matildas with a whole new level of challenge, the challenge now is to take the experience, bank it, analyse it, and come back as a better team as a result.
“There is a lot of learnings,” Lincoln admitted. “…To be able to match up against a world-class team like Japan and see where you are at. It was a good opportunity to see what the best in the world looks like. It’s inspirational – something for us to aspire to as a Young Tillies team.
“We want to be fighting with the best of the best and up there with the best of the best. Just learning from the way they play – the way they keep possession, they have a really distinct style and they are so technical – so lots of learnings to take away.
“We have to ride this low, but tomorrow is a new day with a new opportunity and we just have to put our focus towards what we can control going forward, and that’s the (South) Korea game…it should be a good opportunity for both teams to showcase what they can do without conditions getting in the way (this time) hopefully.”
Saturday comes with the first chance for the Young Matildas to put into practice what they learned from playing Japan. They have beaten South Korea once in the opening Group A match, but the 15cm of snow that the pitch was covered in at the time made that encounter very much a unique one.
“It will be a totally different type of hitout and we’re looking forward to seeing what Korea Republic have to offer and how we can respond to that, and hopefully we can get the win.”
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