How determined Matildas plan to seize ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’

The last time the Matildas played Japan, they were humiliated 4-0. To the point interim coach Tom Sermanni described the SheBelieves Cup performance as “un-Australian”.

He was referring specifically to the “soft goals” conceded in February 2025. On the whole, he said: “We were just played off the field.”

Sermanni said many more things about that game in Houston, but the retrospective standout was that the rout had doubled as “a pretty huge wake-up call” little more than a year out from the 2026 Asian Cup. At least they had time to figure out what to do to beat the seemingly unbeatable.

Well, the time has come. Japan await in Saturday night’s Asian Cup final.

Defender Ellie Carpenter said, “as a team, we’ve grown so much since then”. But what does Sermanni’s permanent replacement, Joe Montemurro, think? How much have the Matildas grown since that loss?

“I haven’t watched that game, I’ll be honest with you,” Montemurro said. “I looked at the result, but I haven’t watched it. I’ve watched more recent games of Japan.”

The first question is: do we really believe the national team’s head coach has not made a point of studying Australia’s last encounter with the country they are about to play for a major trophy?

And the second is: if Montemurro is telling the truth, why does he feel it lacks relevance?

“Look, it’s like everything,” he said. “It’s contextual. It’s the context of the situation where the team was at at that time and the tournament, and where it was within even in the season of the players. This is a different sort of scenario … it’s a final of a tournament.

“Both teams have had different routes there and both teams have progressed and been better, or have made changes accordingly. So I think the context is a little bit different to make any assumptions on the SheBelieves Cup at that time. And we’re better prepared because we’ve found the level of adaptability. We’ve found the level of understanding that when things aren’t going the way we plan, we can change and we can find a way.

“That’s a sign of a team that is obviously growing in their own belief with themselves, and obviously we’ve put in a couple of different tactical approaches that hopefully we’ll find that balance.”

So now we’ve established we are looking forward and not back – that the past in this case will not inform the present – what can the present tell us about the (very) near future? For example, in 24 hours’ time?

Montemurro uses the word “adaptability”. In fact, he names it as “the” word to be applied to this tournament, and the answer to the Japan challenge.

“I think this team is able to adapt accordingly,” he said. “I mean, you’ve seen when we’ve had our backs against the wall, we’ve changed things slightly and been able to find a way.”

The coach knows he is talking about a team that has scored 28 goals and conceded one in the five games on their way to the final. A team broadly described as complete, frightening and insurmountable. One described by Japan’s own coach, Nils Nielsen, as the literal embodiment of the Nadeshiko flower after which they are nicknamed: so beautiful “you just have to stop and look at it”.

“They seem to find solutions in whatever situation you throw at them,” Montemurro said.

“As great a team as they are, they do have a couple of weaknesses – I’m not going to divulge those – where we think if we find some continuity and rhythm with the ball, we could do some good things in the game.”

Then he repeated that Japan have a solution for every problem. It is a realistic perspective to take. Australia are not favoured to win this one, despite all that stuff Nielsen had just said about the who’s the favourite question being “like asking a bee to explain to a fly why honey is better than shit”.

But neither of these men is a player, and Carpenter’s point of view is more defiant. Australia’s right-back, so physically fit that Nielsen labelled her a “cyborg”, was adamant the world No.15 Matildas of today can match their world No.6 foes.

“Our belief has grown into this tournament,” Carpenter said. “Obviously we’ve had some struggles. That [group stage] draw against Korea here felt like a loss for us because we set our expectations so high and we have standards of ourselves. But we need to believe.

“We need to look at our 26-player squad; we have world-class players … some of the best players in the world in our team. I don’t think we should disrespect that and go into this game scared whatsoever. Japan is a great team, a world-class side, but we can match that and we need to come into the game confident. The first 15 minutes of the game for me is going to be the most important to set the tone.”

This finale offers this generation of Matildas their best shot at winning the trophy they’ve been chasing their entire international careers. Sam Kerr is the only remaining member from the 2010 Asian Cup-winning side, and for many stalwarts, Saturday shapes as the last chance.

“When can I say that I’ll have another final in Australia to win a major tournament? Never, probably,” said 25-year-old Carpenter. “So this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us and most of the girls …

“I’ve been in this team for 10 years and haven’t lifted a trophy with the team yet. Tomorrow’s an amazing opportunity for us to hopefully do that. And I think it’ll be a cherry on top for most of the girls – could be their last tournament with this team.”