Tony Gustavsson: "We are starting to see the progress."

Following the Commonwealth Bank Matildas' 3-1 win over New Zealand in Canberra on Thursday night, head coach Tony Gustavsson said that fans were starting to see the progress the team was making.

In terms of scoreline, the match was a stark contrast to Friday’s smash-and-grab victory over the Football Ferns which saw the CommBank Matildas come from 1-0 behind in injury time, to win 2-1.

This victory was assured quite quickly with Australia 3-0 up only 32 minutes into the contest, and – despite a late first-half goal to the visitors – the CommBank Matildas never looked like relinquishing the lead.

Having taken over coaching duties in September 2020, Gustavsson believes this latest series of victories is showing fans the progress the team has made over the course of his tenure. It’s a level of progress that the coaching staff and players have been privy to since his appointment.

“Internally, we have seen the progress and the journey for a while now, even if the results might not have been there,” Gustavsson said.

To demonstrate his point, the head coach referenced the two international series played in late 2021: a win and draw against South American champions, Brazil, followed by a loss and draw against world champions, USA.

“The progress began with the first game against Brazil when we started to see bits and pieces of things that we wanted to do. It wasn't perfect but we saw 15 minutes here and there of passages that were really good in that game.

“Also, against the USA, even though we lost 3-0, those last 30 minutes were really good against a really good US team,” he continued.

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Following the two international series, the team competed in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, falling short of expectations when they lost 1-0 to South Korea thanks to an 87th-minute goal in the quarter-final.

Despite not reaching their target of winning the tournament, the CommBank Matildas still managed 24 goals and three wins in four games with Gustavsson highlighting one key component in their downfall.

“After the USA series we played pretty well in the Asian Cup but we lost a little bit of faith and belief in what we were doing in that second half against Korea,” Gustavsson said.

“So when we came back into this camp, we resolved to keep believing in what we're doing even more and to stay loyal to that process. Then we needed to have a little more cohesion, chemistry, and continuity in what we're doing.”

The two wins against New Zealand are testament to the players buying into that philosophy: genuinely believing in what they are doing and the journey the team is taking.

“We played well in that first game against New Zealand but we didn't capitalise on our chances so we spent a lot of time doing reviews in training and talking about the final pass and finishing.

“The players were 100% focused on that final third tonight, especially in the first half.”

Of that, there is no denying. Three goals in the opening 32 minutes was the direct result of some fantastic creative play-making and excellent delivery from set-pieces.

“We always want to get on the front foot and score early goals in the first 15 minutes," Gustavsson explained.

“Tonight, from the fifth minute until our third goal, we were playing phenomenal football and I liked the variation of how we scored goals: We're good at transition, we're good at breaking down organised teams who park the bus, and we’re good at set plays."

With the final third problems potentially solved, Gustavsson moved onto the next stage of progression in the second half: key tactical preparations for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

“The second half was a great opportunity for us to practice game management.

“You could say that New Zealand took over the game but it was us letting them have the ball because we feel that now we need to prepare for a World Cup scenario where we may need to protect the lead, or change the shape.

“We need to be flexible, and we need to train for these things as well. Our drop-off in possession was a tactical game management change from our end.”

The CommBank Matildas ended the two-game series against New Zealand with two victories from two.

They take away both positives and learnings as they continue their journey toward the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup next year.