Matildas star says team’s performance ‘sucks’ as they lose to Canada again to finish huge year on a sour note

Steph Catley has admitted the Matildas’ bleak end to 2023 “sucks” as pressure mounts on Tony Gustafsson following another defeat to Canada.

After being thrashed 5-0 last Saturday when a fringe team took the field, the nearly full Matildas team fell short again Wednesday in Vancouver, losing 1-0 to the reigning Olympic gold medalists.

Although the Australians had a few chances in the second half, they rarely threatened in a lackluster final match of the year that saw them reach the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup.

“We’ve done something really significant and left a legacy in our country,” said Catley, who wore the captain’s armband in place of Sam Kerr.

“It’s been a very important year for us and I’m disappointed that it ended on such a low level.”

The Matildas suffered another defeat and ended the year on a sad note.

Coach Tony Gustafsson is under pressure over his recent decisions.

Coach Matildas Gustafsson’s desire for his side to adopt a new possession-based style of play to give them more versatility ahead of next year’s Olympics bore no fruit as Canada rarely struggled in front of more than 48,000 fans.

“We try different things, a few different ways to play, and sometimes there are growing pains,” Catley said.

“There are times in the game where we don’t have control, but when we do it looks pretty good.”

As expected, Gustafsson fielded an almost entirely different 11 players from the team that started with a disappointing weekend loss.

Goalkeeper Teagan Micah was the only player to hold his place and this was only due to an injury to top goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold forcing him out of the squad.

Apart from the absence of Arnold and captain Sam Kerr, who was also left out of the 23-man squad due to injury, Wednesday’s starting team was the Matildas’ best line-up.

However, despite Australia fielding a much stronger team, the Canadians were deserved winners.

Midfielder Quinn put the hosts ahead in the 40th minute when she was the first to respond to teammate Kadeisha Buchanan’s shot hitting the crossbar after the Matildas failed to clear a corner.

“The standard has cost us a lot and it is not good enough for our team. There’s a lot to think about and improve,” Catley said.

The Matildas’ memorable World Cup led to Swedish coach Gustafsson being linked with a position with the US women’s national team, which has since been filled, as well as a position as coach of the Swedish men’s team.

Steph Catley candidly admits Australia’s poor recent results ‘suck’

However, Gustafsson rejected the “speculation” despite reports that he was in talks with the Swedish Football Association.

“There will always be speculation, especially when you do good things like the Matildas did,” he said.

“I just focus on my work. I’m focused on the Matildas and this preparatory window has been huge for us.

“I was completely immersed in the game every minute, as were the players. It was a very good window for us and we learned a lot.”

Gustafsson said he would “for sure” still coach the Matildas for February’s two-legged Olympic qualifier against Uzbekistan.