Matildas feeling the heat ahead of second clash with Chile

Matildas coach Alen Stajcic expects the sting of the loss to Chile in the first match of a two-game series will add “a little bit more edge” when the nations meet again in Newcastle on Tuesday night.

The world No.39-ranked Chile stunned the six-ranked Australians, who were uncharacteristically sloppy in possession in the 3-2 loss in front of a packed Penrith Stadium on Saturday.

The loss has ramifications for the World Cup, where the top six sides in the world avoid facing one another in the group stage. Two wins against Chile would have locked the Matildas in for a seeding, but there is a possibility now that other countries could overtake them.

Starstruck: Fan Willow Bennett meets the Matildas in Newcastle.

Starstruck: Fan Willow Bennett meets the Matildas in Newcastle.Credit:Jonathan Carroll

Stajcic said that after gifting Chile two of the three goals then going missing for a good portion of the second half, mentality and winning key moments would be crucial if the Matildas were to restore world order at McDonald Jones Stadium.

“I thought in the first half we dominated the game and just didn’t capitalise on the chances,” Stajcic said. “The keeper made a couple of good saves that kept them in the game, especially at 1-0, and then when you gift a goal away like that, it really has an impact on the scoreboard and the momentum, and I think that that happened in the game.

“Then when they got that early goal in the second half, I think psychologically we thought it would happen easier than it did, and then when it doesn’t you get frustrated and I think a lot of our possession and creative play was stifled for a long period of the game, which wasn’t good. I think that’s the main thing we have to address – the mentality and being able to keep playing to your style of play that you want and the positivity that you want to have in your game, and we lost that I thought for a good 25 to 30 minutes in the second half.’’

Stajcic suggested there could be changes for the match, but one thing that would not change was the attacking brand of football they have become known for.

“We go out to win every game and every moment and that will never change . . . we don’t play for a draw, we don’t sit back,” Stajcic said in Newcastle on Monday.
“We’re an aggressive team, we’re an attacking team and we have that mindset and that will be the same for us again tomorrow night in Newcastle.

‘‘I think that’s really why a lot of the general public in Australia have gravitated towards supporting our team; they can see those characteristics within our team and our players.”

A record crowd for a Matildas stand-alone game on home soil was registered in Newcastle last year when 16,829 turned out at McDonald Jones Stadium in September to watch them beat Brazil, and another healthy crowd is expected on Tuesday night.

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