The Matildas have had their hearts broken by host nation Brazil going down 7-6 on penalties.
After thumping Zimbabwe 6-1, the Matildas went in to this encounter oozing confidence. In a tightly contested match, the game was scoreless until the penalty shoot out, but wasn’t without close calls.
Chloe Logarzo came agonisgly close in the second half after her shot from almost 25 yards struck the crossbar in what would’ve been the goal of the tournament. Both keepers produced some incredible defence to keep scores locked.
The match went in to extra-time and neither team could break the deadlock which sent the game to penalties. All of the penalty shots were successfully taken until Brazilian captain and women’s football legend Marta Vieira da Silva had her shot stopped by Lydia Williams. With the chance to win the game for Australia, Katrina Gorry stepped up but saw her shot was also saved by Barbara Micheline do Monte Barbosa.
With the scores locked up at 7-6 to the Samba Girls, it was Alanna Kennedy’s turn to put the Matildas back in contention – but Barbara stopped Kennedy’s shot in controversial circumstances, sending Brazil through to the semi-finals to play Sweden. – Ben Owusu.
Photo of the Matldas from Steph Catley’s Instagram page.
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