CommBank Matildas Head Coach Joe Montemurro emphasised the positives after the team's 4-2 friendly defeat against World No.3 Germany on Saturday morning (AEDT).
He said that it had been a fantastic opportunity to test themselves against one of the best teams in the world, and the team would learn from the experience.
"We've come here to play against one of the best teams in the world," he said.
"I must congratulate the German national team. They're an inspiration because they play very good football and have some fantastic players. But for us, it was very much a test for ourselves to see what level we're at in our evolution, and our build-up to the World Cup.
"It was a very positive game in regard to understanding what it is to play against top teams. We probably created a lot of chances for Germany with a lot of our technical errors, which we know now that we can't get away with at this top level. But it's a positive step for us in terms of going forward."
He explained that while the team performed in patches, that will have to improve ahead of the global finals next year.
"We set out to do a few things from a tactical perspective, and it worked in patches," he assessed.
"The first one is continuity. You have to be more continuous in doing what we want to do with the ball. We solved a lot of problems defensively, but I think that the biggest thing for us is that we have to make sure that any time we retrieve the ball, or we have situations where we have the opportunity to win the ball, we have to keep it better.
"We got caught on some breaks. We knew Germany were very good. We can manage that well. So there are things that we can fix. That's the most important thing for me. It's not as if we're in a position where it's going to be difficult to fix a lot of these things."
The match was a big occasion for defender Tori Tumeth, who became CommBank Matilda #244 when she was substituted on in the second half. She received minutes alongside other young and inexperienced players such as Leticia McKenna and Alana Murphy.
"It was great to give a lot of our younger players some minutes," Montemurro said.
"We have a new squad coming through, and the second half especially was very good for a lot of our midfielders coming through, and attackers. So, we got to see a lot of positive things for us against one of the best teams in the world."
Attention now turns to the team's next match against Haiti on Wednesday morning (AEDT).
Next Game
Haiti v CommBank Matildas
Date: Tuesday, 13 October 2026 / Wednesday, 14 October 2026
Kick-off: 9.00pm CEST (Local) / 6.00am AEDT
Venue: Stade Walter-Luzi, Chambly, France
Broadcast: Paramount+
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