Summary

These are tricky times for the Matildas. They have reached a level of prominence in Australian culture that they have used to enormous public benefit, but the performances and results that earned that goodwill have deserted them. Moreover, with coaching and selection policy as it stands, it is hard to see where the turnaround is going to come from.

Accompanying that goodwill has been a lack of external scrutiny, but with results and performances as they are, those tough conversations are becoming unavoidable. Andy Harper spent most of his TV analysis biting his tongue, but his frustration at the process that has led to this point was obvious.

It is going to be another big year for Football Australia. Fixing their prized asset is now an urgent priority.

So, what did we learn about the Matildas?

• Just a year out from hosting the Asian Cup the team still has an interim coach (now extended to include the friendlies with Korea in April). Whoever takes over full time will have precious little time to establish themselves before they’re in tournament mode.

• The squad of core players remains desperately small. Tony Gustavsson handed a grenade to his successor by focussing all his attention on a tiny trusted group. That cadre shows no sign of increasing after another international window that featured mostly familiar faces.

• Australia have now lost eight of their last 13 matches.

Before we dig into Australia, a word for Colombia. Caicedo is a superb talent, running at speed down the left. Ramirez is the kind of No 9 her teammates must dream of playing with thanks to her ability to hold up play and bring others into the game.

Around that quality there was industry and resilience – especially in defence during the second-half – and no shortage of street smarts, slowing the game down, finding free-kicks and injuries at opportune moments. On another day their play out of the back in the first half may have cost them a couple of goals, but they rode their luck tonight and came out on top.

Let the postmortem begin. Not many positives to take away from this match, or this tournament with The Matildas struggling a year out from hosting the Asian Cup.

Full-time: Australia 1-2 Colombia

90+10 mins: Micah saves well from the brilliant Caicedo! Mazy run, drifting from left to right then shooting across her body only for a diving save away to the right.

90+9 mins: Gorry again with neat skill in midfield. Montoya has a nibble and goes into the book for her troubles. The free-kick is booted long. There’s a flick on but nobody can reach the bouncing ball and Giraldo gathers.

90+8 mins: Gorry with another long pass but Giraldo is alert to it.

90+7 mins: Murphy finally wins a duel with Caicedo, but the outcome is Micah launching a long ball for Prior to flick on. Old fashioned route one from Australia, hoping to feed off scraps.

90+6 mins: Needless foul from Hunt, dragging Minota down inside Colombia’s box after good work from Gorry.

90+4 mins: Prior has now shifted from centre-half to centre-forward. The instruction from Sermanni is to get the ball forward early. Bleurgh.

90+3 mins: Colombia with a couple more subs.

90+2 mins: Another trademark Caicedo dash down the left leaves Murphy for dead. This time instead of cutting in she squares the ball for Reyes to blast wastefully wide from miles out.

90+1 mins: There’ll be a minimum of eight minutes of stoppage time. I say minimum because another Colombian is down – Giraldo again – milking the clock.

90 mins: Foord is shoved to the ground just outside the box. Fowler with the delivery – too close to Giraldo.

88 mins: Another break in play as Usme is down receiving treatment. This evening is descending into one of enormous frustration for the Matildas.

87 mins: Fowler battles hard to retain possession but Foord then gives it away. In transition Caicedo leaves Murphy for dead on her way into the box, but not for the first time tonight, after cutting in, her shot is blocked.

86 mins: Colombia enjoy a nice couple of minutes of possession and territory. They are taking the sting out of this game nicely.

84 mins: Murphy’s inclusion has pushed Van Egmond further forward but the Matildas have run out of momentum.

82 mins: Ramirez is superb. So strong, so technically adept. Gorry loses her rag and crashes into the Colombian No 9 late and earns her way into the referee’s book.

Sermanni goes to his bench again with Murphy coming on Cooney-Cross.

80 mins: The corner from Cooney-Cross should be easy for the keeper but Giraldo chooses instead to double-fist a punch over her head and behind for another set-piece. Fowler delivers this time from the far side, and on this occasion Giraldo does pouch a simple catch.

79 mins: Sara Martínez is the latest Colombian to go down and milk the clock. She eventually makes her way slowly off the field, replaced by Camila Reyes.

78 mins: Grant has been much busier this half, and her industry and pace earns a corner.

77 mins: Cooney-Cross curls over a free-kick from deep. The clearing header is only as far as Fowler, who volleys first time on the run towards goal. It deflects off Hunt and behind for a goal kick.

76 mins: That Colombian goal was very fortunate, but Australia’s lack of urgency outside the box will disappoint Sermanni.

75 mins: Van Egmond has a pop from outside the box but it ‘s too high.

GOAL! Australia 1-2 Colombia (Usme, 73)

71 mins: Fowler – impressive already in her brief cameo – wins the ball in transition, spins like Zidane, and sends Foord on her way again. Not for the first time this half the Arsenal star is denied by the robust Colombian back four.

GOAL! Australia 1-1 Colombia (Raso, 69)

67 mins: Foord can finally run at Colombia… but she passes to nobody on her left with Van Egmond checking her run.

66 mins: Mary Fowler is the fourth substitute of the night for Australia, replacing the ineffective Tameka Yallop on the left. The Matildas now have their best available front four on the field for the final 25 minutes or so.

64 mins: Caicedo and Santos almost fashion an opening down the left but they’re crowded out. Santos then robs Torpey in possession but Colombia make nothing of it.

Foord, increasingly frustrated as she struggles to get into the game, throws her weight around in attack, but to no avail, then as the clearing boot is sent downfield Hunt is booked for holding onto Santos on the turn.

63 mins: Another Colombian goes down injured. Bonilla this time. And the goalscorer will be replaced by West Ham’s Manuela Paví.

62 mins: Ramirez’s hold-up play is superb. It buys her team time and territory time and again. This has become a bitty, stop-start affair, which suits Colombia. Australia are getting frustrated.

60 mins: Bonilla with the backheel down the line, Santos with the cross, Micah with the easy claim. Australia give the ball straight back though and Caicedo can run at Torpey… into the box… to the byline… but her cross is repelled by Micah’s boot. The youngster goes down off the field, perhaps rolling her ankle in contact attempting the cross.

57 mins: A brief break in play while Natalia Giraldo, the Colombian goalkeeper, receives treatment for a right leg injury. There was no contact involved, and there is already strapping on the No 13’s right knee.

56 mins: Another wasteful ball, this time from Torpey. The Matildas are having enough possession, they just lack cohesion and structured patterns of play.

55 mins: Australia continue to threaten but another Raso cross doesn’t reach a teammate.

54 mins: Foord with a beauty from long-range that just flies wide of the apex of post and bar. The opportunity came courtesy of Van Egmond who stepped up to intercept and dab forward the simple pass. EVE has started this second half well, probing from deep.

53 mins: The Matildas look far less threatening down the left where Yallop lacks penetration one-on-one with Colombia’s fullback. Her partnership with Grant also lacks cohesion and Australia concede possession.

52 mins: Raso again Australia’s outlet down the right and she squares the ball smartly into the box but there’s no b lack shirt where it matters and Colombia clear. So frustrating for the Matildas.

51 mins: In a good early sign for Tash Prior, she stands her ground well as Ramirez tries to roll her in the box. Yallop is then sent to the deck clutching her ankle.

50 mins: Brilliant hold-up play from Ramirez again, and just like the goal freeing Bonilla down the right, but this time Australia have enough numbers back to repel the attack.

48 mins: Van Egmond, wearing the captain’s armband, is now dictating play from deep, operating like an old-fashioned libero to set Australia’s tempo. She finds Raso on the right with a lovely cross-field ball, but the speedster is crowded out – not once, but twice.

47 mins: Almost a second for Colombia and Bonilla. Australia give the ball away cheaply down the right allowing Caicedo to run at the retreating Hunt. Eventually the young star squares the ball along the top of th ebox for Bonilla to step onto a shoot, but her effort is blocked.

46 mins: Prior and Foord have come on for the Matildas at the interval. They replace Catley and Heyman. That’s three subs now for Australia with Torpey replacing the injured Carpenter just before the break.

This is going to be another tournament Australian fans look back on questioning the logic of who played, and for how long.

Presumably we’re going to see a raft of substitutions in the second-half, for which we’re expected to judge the capability of fringe players stepping up at an Asian Cup on home soil.

Half-time: Australia 0-1 Colombia

45 mins: Heyman accepts the long ball through the middle, feeds Yallop on the left, who cuts back inside onto her right and a few passes later the ball is with Micah. Catley is then forced into a one-on-one duel on the touchline. The Matildas need to find a way to maintain forward momentum when the ball is passed halfway instead of having to recirculate in defensive territory.

44 mins: Ellie Carpenter is forced off with what appears a quad injury. San Diego Wave’s Kaitlyn Torpey, playing on her home ground, comes on in her place.

43 mins: Catley’s delivery is great, Hunt wins the first ball, then the second – which is a header in the direction of the far corner – but it evades the post, as well as the despairing leaps of Yallop and Heyman.

Meanwhile, players from both side are on the turf receiving attention. Carpenter looks to have hurt her quad, while Mary Álvarez looks a little dazed.

41 mins: Since their goal Colombia have been largely on the back foot. They seem to want to stroke the ball around midfield and defence around halfway, but Australia’s press keeps forcing them backwards and the back four simply isn’t good enough in possession. Gradually the ball gets closer and closer to Colombia’s byline before the hurried clearance. Australia force the turnover, free Carpenter down the right, and she forces a corner.