The ruthless performance and not the massive scoreline is what fills coach Alen Stajcic with confidence his Westfield Matildas are capable of something special at next month’s Women’s World Cup.
The Matildas head to Canada on Saturday boosted by an 11-0 trouncing of Vietnam at a wet Jubilee Oval on Thursday night.
More than 4000 fans showed up to wish the side well, with Michelle Heyman scoring a hat-trick and co-captain Lisa De Vanna and Sam Kerr both getting doubles in the rout.
In an astonishing start, the home side had scored seven goals before the halfway point of the first half in a clear sign they have the attacking talent to cause some damage at the World Cup.
“That first 25 minutes was very good and very clinical which is something we haven’t been in the past,” Stajcic said.
WRAP: 11-0! Matildas thrash Vietnam
“Considering we played this team 12 months ago and struggled to beat them 2-0 in the Asian Cup…it shows how far we’ve come.
“We lost a bit of shape and structure after the seventh goal which can happen but I was more concerned with the processes rather than the result at the end of the day.
“If we were doing that at training and had no opposition we wouldn’t score that many.
“We just seemed to finish everything and that was fantastic, but I was really more pleased with the passages of play.”
The Matildas superior fitness, pace and skill was always going to be too much for the 34th ranked Vietnam.
After a long fourth month preparation for the squad, Stajcic feels the Matildas are in peak physical condition ahead of the tournament.
He knows they will need to step things up to progress from the “group of death” against USA, Sweden and Nigeria at the World Cup but declared his side won’t be intimidated.
“We’ll play the same way all the time. We’ve got a positive mindset and we’re going to take it to teams,” Stajcic said.
“For them to beat us they are going to have to play good football. They will have to break us down. We have a high work-rate in defence and a lot of pressure on the ball.
“In terms of attack some of the combinations, our left and right fullbacks bombing on and getting crosses in…attacking midfielders getting beyond the forward line, you’re going to see more of that.
“We’ll try and probe and take the game to everyone. That’s part of my philosophy, we’re not going to sit back and die wondering.
“If USA, Nigeria or Sweden want to beat us they are going to have to play good football. Otherwise they are going to get beaten.”
The Matildas leave for Canada on Saturday and will have three more warm-up games against Switzerland, China and New Zealand before their tournament opener against the USA on June 9.