12 Mins: The USWNT force a turnover high up the pitch, with Shaw cutting inside and sending an outside-of-the-box effort that is deflected out for a corner. Shaw takes that set piece but it’s claimed by Micah.

10 Mins: The Matildas would have been hoping for a response from the heavy Japan defeat – they had a player’s only meeting in the wake of that thumping – but it’s been an abject start. The resembled training cones as the USWNT moved through them to open the scoring just 40 seconds in and were brushed aside far too easily as Sears almost made it two.

9 Mins: Another speculative cross into the box from the Matidas, this time from the right in the McNamara direction, but it’s headed clear.

8 Mins: A massive let off for the Matidas, as the USWNT have the ball in the back of the net but it’s ruled out for an offside on Biyendolo.

Yet again, the Australian defence almost melted away in the face of an attack, as Sears burst down the left and advanced into the penalty area. Her shot was blocked by Micah and fell to Biyendolo, who tapped home but was well aware she’d been offside when her teammate made the initial attempt.

7 Mins: Australia gets the ball into the USWNT’s penalty area for the first time, with Grant’s speculative cross from the left claimed by McGlynn.

5 Mins: A ball into the box from the right is knocked down to A Thompson, who can’t manage to take advantage of the space and get a shot off before she’s charged down.

Goal! USWNT 1-0 Australia (Biyendolo 1′)

Kickoff

The last time these two sides met? July 2024, as the USWNT ended the Olympic campaign of Australia with a comfortable 2-1 win in Marseille. Trinity Rodman and Korbin Albert scoring for the Americans and Alanna Kennedy with a late consolation for Australia.

The anthems are complete and the players are moving into position.

It’ll be a home-shirt vs home-shirt match-up today: the USWNT wearing their white shirts and blue shorts and the Australians wearing their newly unveiled green and gold, Calippo-esque (do Americans have those?) shirts with green shorts.

Teams are making their way onto the pitch in Arizona, kickoff is imminent.

Today’s game will mark Sermanni’s eighth game as interim boss of the Matildas, with it looking increasingly likely the veteran mentor’s stint will stretch to include April’s friendlies against South Korea.

Football Australia’s search for a full-time successor to Tony Gustavsson has now stretched into its seventh month following the Swede’s exit following the Paris Olympics and while the federation has been adamant that they have plenty of time to find a successor – given that the Matildas’ next competitive fixture won’t come until the opening game of a home Asian Cup next March – the sense of urgency surrounding the need to appoint someone is growing by the day.

Sermanni has largely done what is expected of an interim since coming in, getting the team’s heads up after a disappointing Olympics, securing a few good results, and blooding some fresh faces. But there’s a limit to what a caretaker can do and with every week that passes without a permanent appointment, the amount of time that a new coach has to implement their ideas, assess the talent at their disposal, and experiment with approach and personnel before the Asian Cup rolls around is reduced.

The stakes were only heightened by the 4-0 defeat to Japan, Asia’s reigning heavyweights having found their full-time coach in Nils Nielsen and accelerating forward into a new era – from an already high base – while the Matildas continue to exist in a holding pattern.

And here’s the report on what was an awful day at the office for the Matildas, thumped 4-0 by Japan.

If you need getting up to speed, here’s The Guardian’s report on the USWNT’s 2-0 win over Colombia last week.

Japan’s red hot form has continued in today’s earlier fixture, putting up another four-spot as they downed Colombia 4-1 thanks to goals from Momoko Tanikawa, Mina Tanaka (who now has two braces in two games), and Maika Hamano.

Nadeshiko Japan are one of several powerhouse nations that have undergone a period of generational renewal in recent years but in just the second-game of the Nils Nielsen-era, the 2011 Women’s World Cup champions look like they’re well and truly surging upward.

Getting in behind the Japanese defence, Colombian talisman Linda Caicedo gave her side their first goal of the tournament just before halftime.

How long has it been since the USWNT made eleven changes to their side between games? Smooth by Carlos Santana, featuring Rob Thomas was top of the Billboard charts the last time it happened, while The Talented Mr. Ripley had supplanted The Green Mile atop the box office.

USWNT XI

Australian XI

Preamble

Joey Lynch