Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold played a starring role in the CommBank Matildas' 2-0 victory over England on Wednesday morning (AEST).
Speaking to the media after the game, Arnold agreed that it was an extraordinary win.
“Obviously England was the team to beat and credit to them for putting that target on that back,” she said.
“With the injuries that we had, we wanted those players to step up that came into their roles, and they did. I think the chances that we had; we took them.”
Despite coming under heavy pressure at times and regularly being required to punch the ball away from her penalty area, Arnold said that there was never a time in which she doubted the ability of her team to get the result.
“I think if you have that mentality you probably shouldn’t be in there,” she said.
“At a game of football like that, it’s hard because they’re attacking non-stop, but credit to the girls for defending for the full 90 minutes. Sometimes football just goes that way.”
“Especially after Friday against Scotland it was very important to come back and bounce back like we did, especially getting a clean sheet” she continued, when asked about the importance of keeping England scoreless.
“It instilled a lot of confidence in our back line, but the whole team as well. It’s very important to take that into the World Cup.”
Arnold believed that it was the key attributes of the CommBank Matildas that helped them get the line.
“I think we’re a very fast team, very high pressing. That’s our identity, we want to live by that,” she explained.
“We saw that with Sam and Mary up front, forcing them into mistakes in the back line, and we took our chances from that.”
In regard to her personal performance, she agreed that she is currently playing the best football in her career.
“I just had to get into the rhythm,” she said.
“I hadn’t played many national team games before the last tournament. Getting those three games, and getting consistent game time as well at West Ham has really helped my confidence, and hopefully I can take that forward to the World Cup.”
She attributes consistency in her performances as the reason for her uptick in form.
“In the past, it’s been very up and down for me,” she continued.
“I think that comes down to game consistency at the top level as well, playing in the WSL, one of the best leagues in the world – I think that’s really helped my confidence and my game awareness as well."