A promising indication of Australia in the break, with beaches Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord showing their usual chemistry. At the break they find lots of spaces for assault. The combination of Hayley Raso and Ellie Carpenter in full-back jet-heeled was perhaps even better. These two can offer any defense training when they are on the form.
“Defensively I thought we gave away too many chances and that’s an area that we’re definitely going to have to address. It’s disappointing to lose but we’ll stick together and focus on Brazil now. We dominated the first half and kept possession really well but we didn’t take our chances.”
– Ante Milicic, Australia coach
What a dream come true for the Azzurre, who did well to stick on only for seconds in the last minute of added moment! On your return from the World Cup, the celebrations at the pitch were a spectacular winner.
“I’m very happy with this result. But it only holds real value if we get out of the group, so let’s wait and see how great it is. In the first half, we didn’t showcase our qualities. Australia were strong but we didn’t do ourselves justice. In the second half, we wanted to show that we were superior than Australia and we improved a lot of things about our style of play.”
– Milena Bertolini, Italy coach.
An unbelievable return from Azzurre, the second-half heroine of the European, with Barbara Bonansea. In her first Women’s World Cup in two centuries, the Italian attacker’s clinically picked up brace cancelled Sam Kerr’s first-half opener and won the day.
“We have to keep the tempo high and find the pockets more. But the first game doesn’t define the tournament.”
– Lisa De Vanna, Australia forward
IMAGE: Kane Oosty and FIFA (augmented)
