It just wouldn’t go in.
Australia threw punch after punch after punch, but it just wouldn’t go in.
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For all the talk of the Matildas being overrun and outclassed by a Japan side who had steamrolled all before them at this tournament, it wasn’t the case.
As Japan celebrated its 1-0 win, the Matildas slumped to the Stadium Australia turf at full-time wondering how on earth that was the final scoreline.
Some shook their heads in disbelief; others shed a tear.
How else can you feel when a performance like that ends in losing the final of an Asian Cup on home soil?
They’d emptied the tank. Effort, heart and desire. They were all there. The only thing missing was the finishing.
Another major tournament ends in a near miss for the golden generation and Japan are crowned Asian Cup champions – they have been magnificent to watch – but
there’s also a sense of the Matildas still being at the start of a journey rather than the end.
Joe Montemurro has been in charge for just nine months. The decider was his 13th match at the helm of the national side. Six of those fixtures have come in tournament
football where winning at any cost is more important than how you win. It’s not an environment conducive to forging an identity.
Montemurro now has 15 months to do that on the road to the Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year. This tournament has provided plenty of learnings.
A MOMENT OF CLASS BUT MATILDAS NOT OUTCLASSED
In the 17th minute, Maika Hamano received the ball in the tightest of spaces near the edge of the box, turned and through a gap that only momentarily existed in between
Alanna Kennedy and Kyra Cooney-Cross sent the ball flying past the outstretched arms of Mackenzie Arnold and into the net. It was like a runaway helium balloon; constantly out of reach and floating away.
It was Japan’s 29th goal in their sixth game of the tournament. What followed was not an easy march towards goal number 30, 31 or 32. Instead, Japan was met with a
fierce Matildas fightback and although it ultimately didn’t lead to the result they were after it did show there wasn’t the expected gulf between the two sides.
The newly crowned Asian Cup champions are now the fifth best side in the world on the latest FIFA rankings. They looked calm and composed on the ball as usual and
there’s certainly some room for improvement on that front for the Matildas, but if this was a boxing bout the Aussies might’ve got knocked down in the second round but
certainly had claims to have won every round on the judges’ scorecard from that point on.
Asked post-game what the difference between the two sides was, Montemurro put it simply.
“They scored a wonderful goal in the first half and we didn’t,” he told Ten.
“We probably needed that little bit of final pass in the first half; second half we found it.
“We probably played better football in the second half.
“They’re one of the best in the world so credit to the girls, credit to the performance it just wasn’t our night.”
The stat sheet saw the Matildas end the match with 54 per cent of possession and 16 shots with six on target. Japan had 12 shots and four on target.
“I don’t think there’s anything more we could’ve given that game,” Mary Fowler said.
“I think on another day we would’ve put one of the shots in the back of the net so I’m just proud of the effort and output the girls put in.
“I think it’s mixed feelings because I think there’s a lot of positives to take out of tonight. Obviously, it hurts being so close to winning and then not getting it in the end
– especially in a game where it felt like we really could’ve won that – but I think we’ve just got to regroup and take out the positives from this tournament because it has
been a really good tournament for us.”
AUSTRALIA MISSING CLINICAL TOUCH
Football can be a cruel game.
The Matildas have played worse and scored at this tournament but failed to find the back of the net in what was their best performance so far.
Australia almost hit the front inside 90 seconds. Sam Kerr’s shot was turned behind for a corner. Chances for Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Kaitlyn Torpey and Kennedy
followed.
Several of those were good chances too. Japan had three really dangerous looks at goal and scored with their first.
“I think they beat us off just one moment,” skipper Sam Kerr told Ten.
“I think for most of the game we had the better chances and definitely in the second half most of the possession. It was just one moment and unfortunately that’s what
football is decided on.
“It’s just moments. The last few games we’ve had the moments and we’ve taken them and tonight they just had an amazing goal. I don’t think there’s a missing part, I
think this is just part of football, it just happens like that.”
Montemurro spoke during the tournament about this part of the game. Seizing moments is not an exact science.
It’s one that leaves a manager feeling slightly helpless.
He can build patterns of play that lead to goal scoring opportunities, but putting them away? That’s where the magic dust is. Only the individual player can truly control
that.
“That’s the big question in world football, isn’t it?” Montemurro said post-game.
“You create chances and the players put them away.
“In other games we had two and three chances and we scored two.
“Today, I think we created more chances than we probably had the whole tournament and didn’t score so how do you fix that efficiency?
“The moment, the situation, having the coldness to put the ball in the back of the net.
“Tonight, it didn’t fall for us.”
FOORD FEELS THE WEIGHT OF THE DEFEAT
Caitlin Foord was particularly harsh on herself after full-time; fighting back tears when asked about the missed chances by the team.
“I take a lot of responsibility. I had three really, really big chances and I need to do better there so, yeah, it definitely hurts,” she told Ten.
“I think that’s the best we’ve ever played against Japan. I don’t think there’s many games where we’ve kind of dominated them in areas like we did tonight and it was just the end product that wasn’t there tonight.”
CATLEY’S HEARTBREAKING POST-GAME INTERVIEW
Steph Catley’s post-game interview was particularly hard to watch.
The defender, who made her debut for the Matildas in 2012, has spoken passionately in the past about the desire to achieve something tangible with the
national team before this group is broken up.
The accolades about being game changers, role models and history makers sit close to their hearts, and the side takes an immense amount of pride in what will be their
eventual place in Australian football history. However, they want silverware to sit alongside the memories.
This second-place finish now lies alongside back-to-back defeats in the Asian Cup final to Japan in 2014 and 2018. There are fourth place finishes at the Tokyo Olympics and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well a group stage exit at the Paris Games in 2024.
Opportunities are running out. Barring something incredible happening at the World Cup next year this might’ve been the final chance.
Asked on Ten moments after full-time to digest the defeat Catley said, “probably one of the hardest… oh I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do this,” she stepped away slightly before composing herself and continuing.
“Probably one of the hardest of my career. I just think we did everything we could of, we did everything we set out to do and we played against an amazing side and we were brave and created chances and it just again wasn’t to be, but so proud of this team, so proud to be part of this team and to represent what we do and yeah, it’s a really tough one.”
KENNEDY NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP
Given the desire for collective honours an individual one will be cold comfort for Alanna Kennedy.
The defender has transformed into a defensive midfielder under Montemurro and scored five goals on her way to being named the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup MVP.
It seems Kennedy and Montemurro were just about the only ones not surprised by her success.
The switch has been seamless and it’s a role she has performed regularly at club level despite being a centre back for most of her time in the international arena.
Her inclusion in the middle of the park also lets Montemurro be tactically flexible.
Kennedy can slot into her former position if the coach wants to substitute a defender for a midfielder while it also allows adventurous wing backs to push on in the
knowledge that Kennedy can also cover the space left behind.
HOW MANY OF THE GOLDEN GENERATION WILL MAKE THE 2027 WORLD CUP?
Generational change is looming for the golden generation but it’s highly unlikely to take place prior to next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Mackenzie Arnold, Steph Catley, Emily van Egmond and Sam Kerr are 32, Alanna Kennedy, Hayley Raso and Caitlin Foord are 31 while Katrina Gorry is 33.
These are not retirement numbers and our previous understanding of when athletes might decide to hang up the boots could need a rethink.
“We’ve still got the core group that are at the top level themselves so it’s very hard to say bye bye because they’re all playing Champions League, they’re all playing top
level football,” Montemurro said.
“Maybe, in my time when you were over 28 or 29 or 30 you were too old, but now days with our sport science and with our recovery and with our processes and our
load management players can still play on.”
28-year-old Clare Wheeler, 26-year-old Kaitlyn Torpey, 25-year-old Ellie Carpenter and 24-year-old Kyra Cooney-Cross, Wini Heatley and Amy Sayer are in the next
bracket down. Mary Fowler is still only 23.
Carpenter, Fowler and Wheeler have already been exposed to plenty of pressure situations both internationally and domestically but as for the others and those coming behind, Montemurro wants them provided with the toughest tests in the game.
“More regular, top international competition,” he said.
“Simple as that.
“We need to play top games, allowing the next group if you want to call it that to really be given the opportunity to feel what playing against the big crowd, playing in
difficult conditions, what that means.
“This sort of tournament football, at this level, is really about understanding and adapting to the situation and we just need that next generation – if you want to call it
that – to be playing high level football.”
CAN THIS TOURNAMENT PROVIDE A LASTING LEGACY?
Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), the union representing players, called for the semi-professional A-League Women (ALW) to be relaunched as a fully professional competition after the Asian Cup.
It was hoped something similar would happen after the World Cup in 2023. It didn’t.
A PFA player survey from the 2024-25 season ranked the ALW as the “least preferred league among its own players, with concerns spanning remuneration, mental wellbeing, facilities and governance.”
A report entitled “Ready for Takeoff” was then launched just months before the Asian Cup starting.
“It shows how the league can become a thriving, fully professional competition that achieves its potential. The title reflects that the A-League Women is Australian sport’s biggest opportunity,” PFA Co-President and current Matilda Tameka Yallop said.
“By acting now, the game can capitalise on the success of the Matildas, the global rise of women’s football, and the generational opportunity of this year’s Women’s Asian Cup.”
This, alongside negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, has become a key topic of discussion between the PFA and the Australian Professional Leagues who run the men’s and women’s domestic competitions.
A fully professional women’s league would be a highly visible marker of legacy after hosting two major tournaments.
At a grassroots level there’s also work to be done.
On the morning of the final Football Australia released a statement calling for “sustained, long-term investment” to ensure New South Wales “can meet the rapidly increasing demand for female participation.”
FA highlighted the 31% increase in female participation in New South Wales that occurred after the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
“This momentum emphasises the need to bridge the ‘facilities gap’ across the state between the current condition of community infrastructure and the standards required to ensure playable facilities,” the statement goes on to say.
“Investment is essential, including in female friendly changerooms, lighting, drainage capacity and new amenities—all of which provide a safe, equitable and year-round environment for women and girls.
“Independent analysis undertaken for Football Australia, Football NSW and Northern NSW Football determined that the state requires a ten-year infrastructure plan, costing $343 million to adequately address the facilities gap at the grassroots level.
“Football Australia, Football NSW and Northern NSW Football are therefore calling on the NSW Government to establish an NSW AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Legacy Fund, consisting of annual grant rounds of up to $34 million over ten years, commencing after the tournament. The fund would be administered by the NSW Office of Sport in collaboration with Football NSW and Northern NSW Football.”
Montemurro was also asked about legacy in his post-game news conference. His focus became a plea for planning around the pipeline.
“I think we have a tendency in this country to try to something, doesn’t work, we try something else,” he said.
“We’ve got to decide who we are, what we want to be and where we want to be in 10, 15 years’ time and stick to it.
“We’re chopping and changing and then this and that.
“We’ve either got to believe in an identity of who we want to be and where we want to go and it has to start at youth levels and we now just have to keep that
consistency going.”
These are only a few of the areas that need attention too.
Tournaments are great and hosting them provides unforgettable memories, but the benefit can be more than memories if key stakeholders are willing to capitalise on
them.