Sermanni: “We were just played off the field today”

CommBank Matildas Interim Head Coach Tom Sermanni gave credit to world no.8 Japan after they defeated Australia 4-0 in the opening match of the SheBelieves Cup on Friday morning (AEDT).

He was speaking to media at the official post-match press conference.

“Sometimes you have to sit back and say, you know what, we were just played off the field today,” he said.

“They were quicker to the ball, they kept possession fantastically. When we tried to press, they broke out of the press. When we sat back they managed to play through.

“Sometimes, you have one of those games. I’d like to be able to sit here and give you the x, y and z of why it happened. But in reality, they were just very, very good today, and we were a bit off.

“The most disappointing thing I felt was that some of the goals we gave up were very poor. That’s kind of un-Australian. We want to be a team that’s hard to beat, and to be honest today, we really gave up some soft goals. But overall, more than a fair result.”

Sermanni admitted that there weren’t many positives to take from the performance, but that it would serve as a reality check for the team.

“It was a pretty huge wake-up call, I think. It was one of those games where we were outplayed from the start straight through to the finish of the game in every department,” he said.

“We were outplayed football-wise, physically, mentally and in our decision-making.

“I suppose the positive thing is now, it gives us a chance to say, well, okay, if come this time next year, when we’re just about getting into the Asian Cup, what do we need to do to beat teams like Japan?”

He said there will likely be some rotation of players ahead of the next game against the United States on Monday morning (AEDT).

“We came into this tournament with the idea of looking at players and giving players game time, because we're at that part of the cycle, and that’s very, very important,” he explained.

“To be honest, we also need to look at performance and make some judgements [from this match] when we think about the team for the next game.

“What is important is that we move on. Sometimes you have a bad game... Sometimes you have a disastrous game, but you need to pick your heads up, pack up your gear, go home and then go back for the next game. That’s what we need to do.”

One of the positive storylines from the game was the return of Holly McNamara to the national side for the first time since 2022.

The 22-year-old has overcome three ACL reconstructions in her career – two since her debut CommBank Matildas appearance – and looked lively at the top of Australia’s attack in the second half.

“It was fantastic [to have her back],” Sermanni said.

“She’s done a huge amount of rehab and preparation to come back. It was really good to see her out there and lively, and that will be a big asset to us going forward. Her return was probably the highlight of the day.”

The team will now look ahead to the two remaining games of the tournament.

COMMBANK MATILDAS | SHEBELIEVES CUP | 17 – 27 FEBRUARY 2025

United States v CommBank Matildas
Date: Sunday, 23 February 2025 (local) / Monday, 24 February (AEDT)
Kick-off: 3.05pm MST (local) / 9.05am (AEDT)
Venue: State Farm Stadium, Glendale (AZ) 
Broadcast: Paramount+
Tickets: ussoccer.com/shebelieves/cup

CommBank Matildas v Colombia
Date: Wednesday, 26 February 2025 (local) / Thursday, 27 February (AEDT)
Kick-off: 4.37pm PST (local) / 11.37am (AEDT)
Venue: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego (CA) 
Broadcast: Paramount+
Tickets: ussoccer.com/shebelieves/cup