Matildas defeat Jamaica in final Cup of Nations match to retain trophy

🕘 Posted on: February 23, 2023 | Last updated on: March 11, 2023

The Matildas defeated Jamaica 3-0 to win the Cup of Nations trophy, completing their preparation for the 2023 Women's World Cup, and giving Tony Gustavsson his first trophy since taking over as head coach in 2021. Katrina Gorry opened the scoring in Newcastle in the first half, and then Alex Chidiac and Caitlin Foord added goals to earn them a seventh straight victory, one short of their all-time record of eight. Gustavsson intended to utilise this friendly competition as a warm-up for the intensity of further World Cup games later this year, and based only on performance, his team excelled. This tournament's 10 goals and three victories indicate as much, but Australia's start on Wednesday was slow at McDonald Jones Stadium in front of 9,093 spectators. The 3-2 victory over Spain on Sunday definitely had an impact on a team that had not had much rotation. The Swedish coach made two changes to his starting Lineup, replacing Hayley Raso (injured) with Larissa Crummer and keeping the 4-4-2 system that has helped his squad develop recently. Courtney Nevin replaced Charlotte Grant at right-back. Nonetheless, Australia found it difficult to manage the tempo, maintain possession, and push Jamaica when they were in danger in the first half. Nevertheless, they might consider themselves fortunate not to have fallen behind because of some tenacious play by Jamaica's Kayla McKenna and quick winger Jody Brown, who both had a number of chances in the game 45 minutes of it.

Nevertheless, the tension was partly reduced by Katrina Gorry's long-range goal in the 27th minute. The midfielder received the ball from Foord and then blasted past Becky Spencer from 25 metres away. Further encouraging developments for the Aussies came shortly before halftime, as Kyra Cooney-Cross and Foord threatened to increase the advantage. The substitution of aggressive midfielder Chidiac for Crummer, who provided little offensively, after the interval was the true cattle prod. The Racing Louisville star has only played in one game so far at this tournament, but she was a threat to the Jamaican defence when she came on, solidifying her position as a "game-changing" player for the Matildas come July's championship.Little over ten minutes after arriving, Chidiac earned her reward by manoeuvring around the 6-yard box to make it 2-0. After that comfortable lead, the Matildas continued to roll, and their third goal came when Sam Kerr and Foord displayed some nice link-up play before the Arsenal striker blasted the ball in from the edge of the box to give Australia a clean sweep of this friendly series and guarantee they would keep the Cup of Nations trophy. Spanish attacker Esther Gonzalez won the series' Golden Boot with three goals, while goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold was awarded Player of the Tournament for a string of outstanding saves over all three games.

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Matildas defeat Jamaica in final Cup of Nations match to retain trophy

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