Key events
24 mins: Australia are well-suited to this ballistic game-plan and when it works like this it’s easy to see the merits. Vine and Raso have been hard to handle for the Spanish defence. However, Spain have bypassed the forward press with ease on a number of occasions and the movement of the front three has continually troubled the Matildas back four.
22 mins: Cooney-Cross does well in midfield and Australia stream forward. Vine accepts possession on the left, looks inside for Foord but her effort is weak, then Cooney-Cross has a shot blocked and Spain clear. The visitors will dominate the possession stats, but the Matildas are all business when they get the ball.
20 mins: From the resulting corner Spain earn a free-kick, and this is worked cleverly to Hermoso but she skews her first-time effort from the edge of the box well wide.
19 mins: Esther must equalise! More delightful ball progression from Spain, space down the left with Redondo and she picks out Esther unmarked on the penalty spot but her shot is blocked by Catley and rebounds to safety. Esther should not have given the Matildas any chance there.
GOAL! Australia 2-0 Spain (Polikinghorne, 16)
Raso’s trickery on the right earns Australia the first corner of the night. Catley’s delivery is good but Australia have to recycle outside the box. The ball eventually goes back in towards Kerr, Marta Carro fails to deal with it and Clare Polkinghorne is on the spot to drill home from five metres out and continue her scoring streak. The Matildas are flying!
13 mins: The chances keep coming at both ends of the pitch, first Foord drags an effort wide then Hermoso is denied at the near post.
GOAL! Australia 1-0 Spain (Vine, 11)
Australia get the ball quickly to Raso in space down the right, she carries downfield with purpose, cuts inside, spots Vine in space on the left corner of the box, and the Sydney FC star does the rest, curling a perfect right-footed shot right where the owls sleep. Superb finish.
10 mins: Close for Redondo! Spain are cutting though Australia’s press and midfield at will with great composure on the ball and clever runs off it. The latest move sees Redondo fashion space on the inside left channel where she spins away from her marker and shoots across Arnold’s goal.
8 mins: The pattern is set. Spain will dominate the ball and look for neat interplay to get in behind in the final third. Australia will look to capitalise on the pace of Vine on the left and Raso on the right. The latter has her first burst of the night but her first cross is blocked and the second straight at Misa.
6 mins: Vine gets a third look at the ball in the final third of the field after a delightful long cross-field diagonal. This time she squares the ball early across the top of the box but there isn’t a finishing touch to the move. Spain go down the other end and just as Australia look to snuff out the danger there’s a turnover coming out of defence and Hermoso is through one-on-one, but Arnold saves! The flag was up in any case, but that’s a great confidence boost for the Matildas No 1.
4 mins: Vine again gets in a dangerous position on the inside-left channel following a quick free-kick in midfield but the cross – while looking threatening at first glance – is poor and drifts out of play. The Matildas are looking fast and positive.
2 mins: Spain immediately commandeer the ball and spray it around confidently, building through the lines until space is closed down on the edge of Australia’s box. As if just to prove a point on aesthetics, the Matildas go direct quickly and Vine gets free in behind but checks back before getting a shot away and Spain clear. Styles make fights, right?
Kick-off!
Can the Matildas continue to build momentum towards a World Cup on home soil, or will Spain spoil the party in Parramatta?
The anthems have been sung, the Welcome to Country observed, kick-off is seconds away.
Out come the two sides onto the Commbank Stadium turf.
Australia are in green shorts, sandwiched between gold tops and socks. The names and numbers on the backs of the shirts are coloured with a rainbow design in celebration of Pride Week.
Spain are top to toe in traditional red.
It’s hot and dry and sunny in western Sydney this evening.
In today’s earlier match, the Czech Republic scored at the death to snatch a 3-2 victory over Jamaica.
Spain XI
Even with 15 possible squad members unavailable for selection, La Roja still look formidable on paper.
Australia XI
Defender Clare Hunt is rewarded for her impressive debut earlier this week with a place in the starting XI. She is one of two inclusions, Caitlin Foord the other, from the side that handled Czechia. Aivi Luik and Mary Fowler miss out.
Here’s more from Emma on the Cup of Nations and what it means for Australia coach Tony Gustavsson in a world cup year.
Five months before a World Cup for which Australia is still not convinced his national team is adequately prepared, he is in dress-rehearsal mode. “Everything we do now is like a World Cup rehearsal,” Gustavsson said on Wednesday, the eve of the Cup of Nations tournament.
Emma Kemp cast her eye over Australia’s 4-0 victory against Czech Republic, and she’s not getting carried away with the Matildas’ good run of results.
What a 4-0 win means for the Matildas in the next six months is completely open to interpretation, so difficult is it to glean meaningful takeaways from friendly tournaments such as the Cup of Nations. This one, being in a World Cup year, has been dressed up as a practice run for the real thing in July. Tony Gustavsson will not stop saying “rehearsal” and “tournament mode” – he may well have been muttering these words into his ever-present headset on the sideline.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Spain in the 2023 Cup of Nations. Kick off at Commbank Stadium in Sydney is 6pm AEDT.
This is the marquee fixture of the six-game round robin tournament, featuring the two highest ranked teams in the competition, each entering buoyed by comprehensive victories a few days ago.
Spain are seventh on FIFA’s standings, and come into tonight’s match with six victories in their past seven outings, a run including wins over the USA and Japan, and featuring the concession of only one goal. Their last defeat came at the European Championships, an extra-time heartbreaker at the hands of eventual champions England.
The last time they faced Australia, in June, they scored six second-half goals to run away 7-0 winners. But a repeat scoreline seems unthinkable given the inexperienced squad at Jorge Vilda’s disposal. Top scorer Jennifer Hermoso is one of only two players on tour with over 30 caps, with the list of absentees including superstar Alexia Putellas as she continues her recovery from an ACL injury.
Quite why Spain are so depleted is a long and complicated story. Condensed, in September of last year 15 players declared themselves unavailable for selection, alleging that the “situation” within the national team was having a negative impact on their “emotional state” and their “health”. More from Sid Lowe here:
The Matildas finally appear to be gelling under the stewardship of Tony Gustavsson after a long period of acclimatisation for the Swedish coach. Five wins on the bounce have raised expectations at the start of the biggest season in the history of women’s football in Australia. Victory tonight, against fellow World Cup contenders, will turbocharge the nation’s hopes, just five months away from the defining tournament of this generation.
That’s enough from me for now, but you can join in by sending me an email or fly a tweet to @JPHowcroft.
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