Keep the emotions in check.
Play better position football and do not turn over possession. Finish every
chance. Those are the crucial points Australia coach Adrian Santrac is drilling
into his players as they prepare for their second match at the FIFA Women¡¯s
World Cup USA 2003.
Australia opened their account on Sunday against Russia and are still trying
to digest the result. Despite controlling the play for long stretches and
creating numerous scoring opportunities, the Matildas lost to Russia 1-2 on a
last-minute goal. Now, the Aussies must take on China in an unenviable position.
¡°We must take three points from them,¡± said vice captain Sacha Wainwright.
¡°We¡¯re looking at the Russia game as a lost opportunity. We could have gone into
this game with three points. Now, we¡¯re in a position that we must win.¡±
It is not where head coach Adrian Santrac wanted his team to be going into
their second match.
¡°We knew the first game of the World Cup would be critical to the rest of the
tournament,¡± Santrac said. ¡°To be honest, losing to Russia was never a
consideration. We expected to go into the China game with three point. Now, we
have to change our plans and we don¡¯t have the time to do that fully.¡±
Santrac said while the Matildas did do many things well against Russia, they
allowed their own emotions to get the better of them. Santrac said as Australia
took control of the match, ¡°we pushed up with too many players. The adrenaline
took over as they saw the win before them and they didn¡¯t stop to think about
what Russia were doing.¡±
Against China, a rush of emotion or anxiety could erase any chance for the
Matildas to reach the quarterfinals. The cure for that, Santrac said, was for
his players ¡°to leave their emotions off the pitch.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve been trying to teach our players that emotions in sport are your
enemy,¡± Santrac said. ¡°There are highs and lows. When you are in one of the
troughs, you can¡¯t play at your best. When you are on an emotional high, you may
play your best for half a game or a whole game, but it passes. We want to have
consistency in all our matches.¡±
The loss to Russia pointed out several deficiencies Santrac said he is
working to correct. The biggest was the Matildas tendency to turn the ball over
in the middle of the park.
¡°Their second goal came when we turned the ball in midfield,¡± Santrac said.
¡°Russia actually had three or four breaks off our turnovers. So we need to
improve on our possession and use better judgment when we have the ball.¡±
Midfielder Tal Karp said keeping possession was part of an overall
improvement the Matildas had to make.
¡°We¡¯ve got to keep our structure and improve our teamwork,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve
also got to keep a great shape and keep them from racing through us.¡±
Australia¡¯s defence took a blow in the Russia match when vice captain Sacha
Wainwright tore a muscle in her thigh. Santrac said he still was not sure who
would replace the 32-year-old lawyer-turned-footballer.
¡°There¡¯s a decision to be made,¡± Santrac said. ¡°You don¡¯t want to lose a
player like Sacha. She missed the 1999 World Cup with a knee reconstruction and
she¡¯s worked particularly hard to get back to where she can compete and succeed
at this level and then this happens. It¡¯s extremely disappointing but we will go
on.¡±
The Australians do have the strength of familiarity working for them.
Australia played China twice last month and did well despite having the bulk of
their players at less than full strength. Karp said her side¡¯s knowledge of the
Chinese could benefit them in the match.
¡°We certainly know a lot about them, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to surprise
us,¡± Karp said. ¡°At the same time, it works both ways. They know a lot about us,
so it¡¯s pretty even.¡±
In the end, Santrac said beating China would all come to down to ¡°basic
football.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve got to prevent them from scoring on us while we score on them,¡± he
said. ¡°It really does all come down to that. One point from this game won¡¯t be
enough in my opinion. I just don¡¯t think four points will get us through to the
quarterfinals. We have to go out and win against China and we¡¯ll do that by
scoring more goals than they do.¡±
