How Matildas turned their shaky defence into a solid foundation

It was only about 18 months ago that defence was still the Matildas’ biggest area of concern. Clean sheets were a rarity in Tony Gustavsson’s tenure and wins rarer still, and being loose at the back was becoming a trademark.

Even towards the end of 2022, when friendly wins over South Africa and Denmark marked an uptick in results that would carry the team through a historic 2023, the back line was constantly undergoing surgery – literally and metaphorically.

With Ellie Carpenter still rehabbing her ruptured ACL and Alanna Kennedy sidelined by a string of injuries, the magnets were moved almost every match, with several other players deployed in various combinations.

That changed last February, when Clare Hunt made an assured international debut at the Cup of Nations. Come Australia’s 1-0 World Cup warm-up friendly win over France, left to right looked like Catley, Kennedy, Hunt and Carpenter.

That back four remained all the way to the tournament’s semi-finals and has picked itself since, reliably supported from the bench by Charli Grant, Clare Polkinghorne, Aivi Luik and Courtney Nevin.

And as the Matildas prepare for two crunch Olympic qualifying play-offs against Uzbekistan, Carpenter is taking confidence in the solid defensive foundations.

Carpenter and Hunt at Matildas training before the World Cup quarter-final.

“It’s massive,” Carpenter said. “We’ve had a lot of problems with the back line in the past. I think in my nine years in the national team, it’s always [been] changing – we didn’t really have that consistency.

“But we really have a solid back four, and we’ve obviously clearly worked really well together in the World Cup. And I think once we come into camp it kind of just gels together, and we know each other inside out.

Ellie Carpenter and Alanna Kennedy during the World Cup.

“If you have a good defence, especially on the international stage, that sets you up for so much. With so many of these amazing attackers now in the world, it’s nice to have that security. All of us are playing at really good clubs in Europe as well, and that helps.”

Carpenter is well established at Lyon, having been with the perennial French champions since 2020. Catley joined Arsenal in the same year, and Kennedy signed with fellow English Women’s Super League heavyweights Manchester City in 2021.

Newest among them is Hunt, who made the big leap from Western Sydney Wanderers to Paris Saint-Germain in September and has played almost every week in the Division 1 Féminine, including last week’s 1-1 draw with Carpenter’s Lyon. On top of that, the 24-year-old has made eight Champions League appearances.

“I was proud to see her play,” said Carpenter, who is from Cowra, in the same rural NSW region as Hunt’s home town of Grenfell. “We’ve grown up together in the country. We’re both country girls. I’ve known her since I was 10 years old.

“Taking a leap to a foreign country, it’s her first club overseas – she did it the hard way. She went to a country that doesn’t speak English, in probably one of the most competitive environments in European football at PSG.

“It’s a very cut-throat environment in the French leagues, but I think she’s done really well settling in. I’ve helped her quite a bit. We’re in contact a fair bit. [She’s] sometimes asking, ‘Is this normal in France?’ I’m like, ‘Yes’. But credit to her, she’s really taken on her role very well.

“She’s been playing a lot of minutes … being exposed to high-intensity matches like Champions League group stage, now they’re in the quarter-finals of Champions League. You don’t play those matches every day and they’re the matches that make you better and with experience as well. I definitely think she’ll be a better player by being [in France].”

The Matildas have only played Uzbekistan once before – a 10-0 Beijing Olympics preliminary-qualifying win in 2007. Carpenter predicts they will be “kind of an unknown” in Saturday night’s away leg in Tashkent, before Wednesday night’s home leg at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. They must win on aggregate to secure a spot at the Paris Games starting in July.

“I think it’s going to be a very cagey game,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll put a lot behind the ball. I think it’ll be, in terms of us trying to get around a deep block, similar probably to the Iran game and the Chinese Taipei game.”

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