Was that the start or the end for the Matildas?

ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more.

It's not wrong to expect us to be the best.

You know, but we have to put this all in context.

You know, we're a country of 26 million people

and our talent pool isn't that of 129 million

or 3 billion that we played the other night.

You know, we've got to pull all these in context.

We've got to pull all these in context, guys.

Come on, you know, we're doing some amazing things

and but I know we can do better.

Matilda's coach Joe Montemuro in the wake of that agonising Asian Cup Final

lost in Japan.

And look, it's a line rich with perspective.

This is the same that knows it's missed once in a lifetime opportunity.

There's still a lot to like from this tournament.

There's also a lot to unpack.

Was this brilliant but ultimately fruitless tournaments?

The end of something?

Or is it kind of the start of something?

A Patrick Stack?

This is ABC Sport Daily.

Alicia Ferguson, former Matilda these days,

coaching also part of the ABC's coverage of the Asian Cup-Eash.

Monday's a rough, doubly so for Matilda's players and fans

that final feel like the best Australia has played all tournament

just couldn't quite take their chances.

What did you make of that defeat to Japan?

Yeah, I think the best team won across the whole tournament.

We know the quality that Japan has brought.

I think, yeah, missed opportunities is probably how the Matilda's are feeling

and a huge missed opportunity to regain that Asian Cup title.

And it's been a long time.

Sarah Walsh said, you know, she was talking to Tom Somani

and Heather Gariock.

You know, we're a bit sick of talking about 2010.

We want to talk about a more recent success story.

But I think it was, I think it was a really well played match.

I think Japan showed a lot of respect to the Matilda's in the sense that

they didn't press within intensity or tempo that they did against

Korea Republic in the semi-final.

And I think that's because of how dangerous Australia are on the counter attack

and in those transition moments, which is how they scored their two goals against China.

So it was a really interesting game.

And I think the Matilda's held a great account of themselves just missed those big moments on the night.

The Instagram posts from individual players, Kurt Katley, Carpenter, Kennedy,

you name it the on field and after match interviews all had a common theme.

Heartbroken, gave everything.

Caitlin Ford was a player, visibly shaken at the end of that game.

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.

How much is the scarring from a result like that going to be a bit of a problem?

How tough would it be to take for the playing group?

You don't forget those moments quickly.

You want to forget them.

But every time you close your eyes or lie down in bed,

then you have almost that PTSD flashback.

And I'm sure Caitlin Ford, the poor thing, is going through exactly that.

It's really hard to just forget that move on.

So the Japanese pick up the ball has been given away by the goalkeeper.

Four from a narrow angle.

Tristan blasted across the face of goal.

And it goes all the way across the face of goal and out for throwing on the far side.

We're almost gifted with a chance then, but just show the value of that pressure.

They do have to move on at club level.

That was a huge moment, a home final in front of a sold out crowd.

They're the moments that you live for as an athlete and not lift the trophy.

That takes a while to get over.

And you may never get over it.

The mood at the fan event in Darling Harbour, kind of told a story.

And when you contrast it with that Nikki Webster inspired sing along in 2023 after the end of that World Cup.

The mood on Sunday, it was somber.

And in a odd way, I wonder whether it speaks to resolve with a World Cup next year in Brazil.

Do you look at the tournament as the end of a cycle, the one that we've just finished?

Or are we sort of building towards that World Cup?

I think it's a bit of a column A and a bit of a column B.

I think there's not enough time to do a full transition of players.

I think there's still an incredible amount of quality and experience in the current playing group.

But now it's not just looking to next year's World Cup.

And we do.

We have expectations of where we need to, and what we need to achieve.

Sorry, at the World Cup in Brazil.

There's another thing that we can play for.

Another trophy that we can chase.

We've got a little bit of time under our belt.

I think one thing that in this tournament, we had a real sense of togetherness

and it felt really special again.

So hopefully we can continue that over the next year and keep that momentum into the World Cup.

However, Joe is also looking to the mid to long term.

But World Cup comes around pretty quickly and we need to get good results there as well.

Where does the evolution come from for Joe Montemarro and this group for that World Cup?

I mean, how many of this team this group might not be there in Brazil?

Yeah, there could be a few.

I don't know.

It's a really tough one.

I guess the thing is that Joe is still in a play on how he wants to approach the game.

Whether the tier below the current Matilda squad is ready for that and ready to execute the style of play that he wants.

I don't think that there is the depth there.

And I think that will probably mean that he will stick with what is currently there and maybe with a few tweaks as well.

But yeah, it's a I think the getting through the World Cup and holding ourselves to high standards for the World Cup and getting good results is first and foremost.

And then then I think it's a rebuild.

Japanese coach Nils Nilsson, he used his press conference to talk about the lack of available beer in Australia, which was a thought an interesting post script.

And here in Australia, it's such a strange country, you know.

If the club is more than 11, you can buy a beer.

What kind of country is that?

It's almost like you should have, you know, support like we give in Denmark to the countries in African stuff.

We will do that so you can keep the bars open a bit longer.

Because the most annoying thing, perhaps the only annoying thing about Australia, is that you cannot get a beer when you're thirsty.

Personally, I think he's maybe not trying hard enough.

But looking at Japan more broadly and their system, as I understand it, they're 21 years into a 100 year football plan.

And what you're talking about there, that sort of balance between short term goals and long term legacy.

That commitment to a long, long term vision.

Is there something to take from that from Australian football?

Yes.

We have tried numerous strategies, but what we've done is copied and pasted from other nations.

So there was an experiment bringing almost like a Dutch style system with a 433 to Australia without understanding the cultural implications of that.

And also just understanding, you know, how are you going to coach a player in Central Queensland of perfection and repetition and technique?

Who's the coach going to be?

How are you going to get to that player if they are talented, but they're living so remote out of metropolitan areas and their family can't afford to get to metropolitan areas.

Or it takes six hours to get there for them to be embedded in a system of quality coaching quality training environment.

So that's a real challenge for us.

I think having had the Garrioc a former national team player, you know, Australian through and through.

Understanding what it means to be an Australian footballer and how we need to develop and make sure that we're constantly qualifying for the World Cup.

I think is a good thing.

I think you're having Joe as well as that person is super important because he said in a quote that we've tried to implement different identities.

We have a tendency in this country to try something, it doesn't work, we start something else, then we do something else, then we go somewhere.

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.

And stick to it where, you know, we're chopping and changing, 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, where we want to go.

And it has to start at youth levels and we have to now just keep that consistency going.

I think the biggest problem is sticking to a program, sticking to something and saying this is what we believe is going to be us in the next 15, 20 years.

Having the understanding that with a mid to long term strategy, you're going to have some difficult times before you see the results.

It happened in England, the English FA 20 years ago went right, we want to change the DNA of what an English player is.

We want them to be comfortable on the ball, we want them to play themselves out of trouble, we want them to be technically proficient.

I feel like we're at the stage in Australia now, we really need to knuckle down and look to the long term, rather than just the short-term games.

There's been a telling post script with maybe this golden generation's most golden player in Sam Kerr reports from the athletic in the United Kingdom that she will leave Chelsea at the end of the season when she's out of contract.

And the suggestion being that the striker also has lots of interest from US clubs.

Can you tell us why Chelsea might not be wanting a player of that quality?

And if I'm a Sam Kerr fan, if I'm a Matilda's fan, where do I want her playing? What's the best case for Australian football?

I think there's been a fair bit of change at Chelsea in recent times, Paul Green, who had a woman's football, had been there for an extraordinary amount of time, got let go, quite cutthroat actually.

And he was the one who was in charge of recruitment and development in all the rest of it.

So whatever way Chelsea want to approach things from now, I think they're trying to look to younger players.

Younger players and probably cheaper players, like that's my gut feel. Right Sam Kerr comes with a happy price tag and a hefty salary to her name as well and rightfully so.

And she's 32. She's been there for a while.

So you kind of need to at some point have a look at where they are and what their long term planning is and she's out of contract.

I think and WSL is the right place. I think her wife Chrissy is from the East Coast, so it could be maybe New York awesome.

It could be the new Boston franchise as well. I think family is super important. They've got a young family. They've got little Jagger.

I think it's just as important what's happening in Sam's life off the pitch now as to what's happening on the pitch.

I think there's a direct correlation about her happiness off the pitch and her performance on the pitch.

We've got silver linings for a tournament that ultimately gave us a lot, but leaves us without a trophy from Australian football perspective.

What are you drawn to? Is it a line of Kennedy's re-emergence and the MVP? She picks up as player of the tournament.

Is it some of the younger talent coming through? Was it Kerr's capacity to play through immense physical challenges?

What was the feel great thing to take from it for Tilly's fans?

Tilly, we got to the final and there was a sold out crowd in Sydney, which was extraordinary.

And really even with the loss, so many fans hung around afterwards.

Those fans also cheered on Japan and they lifted the trophy, which I think was a huge mark of respect for the Japanese.

The fireworks go off. The glitter fills the air above this Japanese team and they are worthy winners of this AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026.

I think we ground out so many results. We did not do it easily. We did it the hardest way possible, but we got to the final.

And having an Australian Japan final was the pinnacle of that tournament and it happened.

And we didn't take the easy route and just felt slightly short, but I think there's so many positives to take from a tournament perspective for the Matilda's.

However, they still lost in the final, so they'll be feeling it. So they're still a feeling of like so close yet so far.

Each thanks for providing just the best analysis throughout this tournament. I appreciate your time as always.

Pleasure Stucky, thank you.

Headlines, you've got to feel for the AFL. They tweaked the rules to speed up the game to try and get a sexy product. It works.

But all of a sudden, we have a spate of hamstring injuries. Tom Lynch, Toby Nankervas, Christian Petraca, Kalamachi, Conor Rosie.

They're just some of the names impacted from the weekend and the footy industry is making the judgment that this is a product of a faster game where players are being asked to max out more often.

He's Daniel Hartford articulating it on ABC AFL daily.

The speed of the current game, and we've seen the first three rounds, has gone through the roof. We've all talked about it. You can't deny it.

It's like ping pong at times the way the ball bounces up and down the ground.

So that's becoming a bit of an unintended consequence of what the new rules and the new system is allowed.

Elsewhere, Essin and Coach Brad Scott admitted that around through thumping from Port Adelaide has his players bit rattled.

I'm a coach who very rarely questions like a effort, like a fight.

You know, because I think they know these guys well enough that they'll always give that. But there's no doubt we're demoralised.

To get across the entire round, listen to ABC AFL daily podcast, wherever you get your pods.

In the NRL, so Georgia, the War of Forward Ryan Craftsman has been referred directly to the judiciary over a hip-drop tackle on paramatter forward, German hop-good.

The incident left the eels player in agony with concerns he might have a season ending in the injury.

Australia's star middle-distance rider, Jess Hellhaz, had a weekend. She took silver at the indoor world champs in the 1500 meters that follows bronze in the 3000 earlier in the month.

Melbourneian Adam Spencer also won a surprise made in global medal in the men's 1500, meaning Australia collected five medals for the polo and mate, no golds.

A bit going on in English football, Arsenal lost two Nilton Man City in the lead cup final. There goes their dreams of four trophies in one season.

But what about Tottenham, Thump 3 Neil in the Premier League, by nutting him forest, one point above relegation zone.

The men's test cricket schedule is dropped for next summer. The upshot four tests against New Zealand over 31 days starts December 9th, runs to January 8th.

That all comes out of a huge series away to India.

I'm Patrick Stack, this is ABC Sport Daily, produced by Poppy Penny.

Thanks to Paramount Plus, the Matilda's and Optus Sport for the extra audio used in this episode.