The biggest cheers of the night - aside from the goal - were for a player who didn’t take the field. It was always going to be that way, of course, given Sam Kerr’s re-integration into the Matildas, and the controversy that has swirled around her for the past year.
All of that is over now, or it should be at least. Every time Kerr was shown on the big screen at Allianz Stadium on Friday, the crowd of nearly 38,000 went crazy.
“You read a lot of stuff, you hear a lot of stuff,” said interim coach Tom Sermanni after Australia’s 1-0 win over South Korea.
“The real Matildas supporters showed what they think of Sam Kerr, and they’re absolutely delighted to have her back. As are the team, as are the staff. She’s been a really positive influence around the squad, and hopefully it’s not too long before she’s back on the pitch.”
The Matildas could certainly do with her potency in the final third. They were lacking a little in that department, struggling to generate many clear-cut chances against the team that ended their last Asian Cup campaign; the only goal was an own goal, off the head of South Korean defender Lim Seon-joo in the 54th minute, after a tantalising cross by Emily van Egmond.
Generally, the hosts were in control, though they had less possession than the visitors. But they defended well, kept a clean sheet and a couple of new-ish faces - in particular, Holly McNamara and Jamilla Rankin - impressed with their energy and efforts, helping fill the void left by half a dozen key players, like Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso, Mackenzi Arnold and Katrina Gorry, who are all injured.
They came away with no new injuries, too, so it was a pretty decent night at the office all round, though a long way from perfect.
The most important thing was that they won, something they hadn’t done before in 2025 after their nightmare campaign at the SheBelieves Cup, which shook their own belief.
“It was really critical to win, and to win with a clean sheet makes it even better,” Sermanni said.
“I was really pleased with how the players went about the job. It’s no secret that the SheBelieves [Cup] wasn’t a great tournament for us, for a whole variety of reasons - and then we’ve come in tonight and obviously [important players have] been injured, and we’re managing minutes with some of the other players.
“When you put all that together, I thought it was a really terrific effort from the team, and more like how we want to play. If you look back at our last several games ... we’ve kind of been on the back foot from the start, and we’ve conceded goals early, and always been chasing the game. But I thought tonight, our attitude from the start was very good.”
They go again on Monday night in Newcastle, where another big crowd will await.