Matildas v Portugal LIVE updates: Tony Gustavsson’s side out to atone for heavy defeat
1 of 1
Portugal on the front foot
Portugal look the better in these opening minutes and are causing problems for Australia with a high pressing game. Despite ranked 18 spots below Australia, Portugal look eager to take the game to the Matildas, who have barely left their own half in these opening five minutes.
The teams are out on the pitch
The teams are out on the pitch. We’ve just had both anthems of Portugal and Australia in Estoril. The Portuguese are wearing their famous red jerseys with the Matildas in their home kit of yellow.
Portugal are ranked 30th in the world with the Matildas 12th however the Iberian nation is a team on the up. They enter this match with a three match winning streak, having beaten Bulgaria and Greece twice in the lead-up to this match.
We’ve had kick off and this match is underway.
Gustavsson makes the changes
Looking to this morning’s match against Portugal, Gustavsson has made a handful of changes including bringing experienced goalkeeper Lydia Williams back between the posts, with Remy Siemsen also coming in to the starting side. Gustavsson should be under pressure to keep his job, such have the underwhelming performances and results been under his tenure, hopefully Australia can deliver a result against Portugal to help his cause.
Gustavsson ‘surprised people are surprised’ with Spain defeat
In the aftermath of that loss to Spain, Tony Gustavsson came out with the strange comments that Australia should have expected a record defeat to the Spaniards. He said Australia no longer has the depth of talent to compete with teams like Spain, who are ranked five spots above the Matildas in seventh position on the FIFA standings.
He pointed the finger at the players at his disposal, suggesting they had no hope of expecting a result against Spain.
“First of all, it surprised me that people are surprised,” Gustavsson said. “I’m actually surprised that people are surprised because that is where we are. And we need to be OK to see the truth in the eye here and identify that and then keep investing and keep believing and keep wanting to improve.“
Hello and welcome
Good morning and welcome to the live blog of the Matildas friendly away to Portugal. Australia will be looking to bounce back from their humiliating 7-0 loss to Spain last week, which was their biggest defeat in a quarter of a century.
Missing a handful of key players, coach Tony Gustavsson heaped more pressure on himself by fielding a few youngsters among experienced players but Australia were on a different level to the rapidly improving Spaniards.
1 of 1
Most Viewed in Sport
Source: Read Full Article