Matildas bring difficult year to an end with uplifting win and sense of revival | Jack Snape | OneFootball

In a place known by some as Pivot City, the Matildas finally turned a corner. Australia’s favourite football team came alive in Geelong on Saturday in their final match in 2024, marking the end of a difficult year during which the dressing room felt like a “funeral” according to coach Tom Sermanni.

Their entertaining 6-0 domination of Taiwan on Saturday in Geelong was full of freshness, an uplifting upgrade to an uncertain 3-1 win in Melbourne on Wednesday. Kardinia Park rocked on a warm evening with a crowd of 30,000 that beat expectations, and which was treated to flashy attacking play, a glimpse at eager debutants and goals from a mix of veterans and Sermanni’s generation next.

In a frank assessment after what might be the interim coach’s final match in charge, the 70-year-old said he feels like the camp of the past two weeks – which started with two friendly defeats against Brazil but ended with two victories against Taiwan – has revived the team after the disappointment of Paris.

The Matildas’ 15 games in 2024 have produced eight wins and two draws, but the Olympic defeats against Germany and the US and the ensuing group stage exit heavily affected morale.

“When I went into the team in Switzerland [in October] for the first couple of team meetings, I thought I was turning up at a funeral if I’m being honest,” he said. “I think the team’s come back to life again and there’s a bit more noise and a bit more enthusiasm,” Sermanni said.

The Asian Cup in Australia in 2026 looms as a focus for the side after the rich memories of the home World Cup, but player of the match Tameka Yallop said her teammates are not getting ahead of themselves.

“You’ve still got the main focus of 2026 but for us, we would also like to improve our rankings as well. So every game is really important to us and just gelling, and increasing our depth and consistency,” she said.

Strikers Michelle Heyman and Emily Gielnik, as well as Yallop, all found the net on Saturday. All are well into their 30s, but their performances in the absence of half a dozen Europe-based starters on Saturday suggest a place in the Asian Cup squad is within reach.

The other names on the scoresheet on Saturday were a triumph for Sermanni’s approach to the window, during which 38 players were brought in to provide his successor depth.

The opening goal came from Melbourne City’s Leah Davidson, and second half strikes followed for Natasha Prior and Sharn Freier, two of the leading contenders to push for more Matildas minutes in 2025. The coach also handed debuts to Western United’s goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln and Laura Hughes, Melbourne City’s talented midfielder.

“What I’ve seen in these last few games, and having the chance to work with some players, is that we’ve unearthed a few players that I think have that capability to step up and play at international level,” Sermanni said.

Yallop – a clubmate of Freier at Brisbane Roar – has seen close up the increasing confidence of the winger. “You never really know what she’s going to pull out of the hat, which is kind of why it’s so exciting to watch her play,” she said.

Sermanni said Freier had an x-factor. “If you’re looking at one of those wildlife films, she looks like one of those lions that just sort of float about, and then suddenly there’s a bit of prey and whoosh, they’re off and they get them.”

The Matildas as a whole have rarely looked like an apex predator in 2024. They were comprehensively outplayed by Brazil and against high level opposition this year they have only one victory, against Germany in October in Sermanni’s second match in charge.

Mary Fowler and Cortnee Vine have made themselves unavailable for international duty to address mental and physical fatigue, and Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor revealed on Friday that Matildas captain Sam Kerr won’t be back from her knee injury until February at the earliest. It’s a serious ailment, but such a timeline makes for a longer-than-expected recovery.

“For us, it’s important for her to be 100% before she comes back,” Yallop said. “We want her for the long run, not necessarily the short run.”

And then there was Tony Gustavsson’s departure in August, providing another challenge in a year that – despite everything – saw the Matildas’ popularity continue. The side drew an average of almost 45,000 to home matches in 2024.

Sermanni said the period has not been easy for the players. “There were players that don’t know me and don’t quite know what’s happening next, so there was a lot of uncertainty. What’s happened since then is that things have stabilised a little bit and the team’s kind of starting to come back to life again,” Sermanni said.

“If you look at the on-the-field efforts and performances in the last game, even going back to the Germany game, I think that shows a team that’s cohesive, a team that’s back on track again, a team that enjoys being together and a team that enjoys playing together.”

Header image: [Photograph: Rob Prezioso/AAP]