Well, I think a lot of us were expecting Australia to be a couple more goals up against Iran by half-time, but full credit to the lower-ranked side: they’ve made it really hard for the Matildas to score, barricading themselves in their own defensive third and forcing Australia to find little gaps and passages to try and create scoring chances.
The half-time stats say it all: the Matildas have had 82% possession to Iran’s 18%, 392 passes vs 91, and 7 shots to Iran’s one.
And yet the score is just 1-0.
What needs to change at half-time, do you reckon? Does Tony Gustavsson need to bring on some more fire-power? Some more technical wizards? Players who can unlock these kinds of low-block defences? Or should he trust the players he started with to get the job done?
Log into the comments and let me know what you thought of that first half!