Preparation for the Women’s World Cup gathers pace, and with the inaugural Cup of Nations reaching its climax with Australia Women taking on Argentina Women in the last game of the tournament, we headed to AAMI Park, Melbourne for the next stop in our ‘Framed’ series.
The Matildas came into the game on a high. Sitting at the top of the table following wins over New Zealand and Korea Republic, victory in the Cup of Nations tournament in front of their home fans was within their grasp. Argentina, by contrast, sat at the bottom of the table having lost to the same teams. That’s not to say that it’s been all plain sailing for the Matildas, with the somewhat surprise sacking of their head coach, Alen Stajcic threatening to derail their World Cup preparations.
But under Ante Milicic, the Matildas seem to have moved from strength to strength, with talismanic captain, Sam Kerr, leading the charge. And it was a case of more of the same here, as she opened the scoring after just four minutes, much to the delight of the home fans. That was added to later in the half with an Alanna Kennedy header, the Argentine defence unable to cope with the Matilda set pieces. The scoring was rounded off with a Caitlin Foord penalty in the 94th minute, handing Australia a comfortable victory and the inaugural Cup of Nations victory.
Photography by Aleksandar Jason for SoccerBible
