Women’s Asian Cup: Matildas will rue their lack of clinicality in heartbreaking final loss to Japan

Football is a simple game. You can dominate possession, shots on goal, final third entries and literally any stat you can think of — but it matters not if you cannot put the ball in the back of the net. The Matildas are not the first team to learn the lesson of not taking your chances in front of goal, nor will they be the last. But to take that medicine in a final against the best team in Asian and one of the best in the world on home soil, is a bitter pill to swallow. This, more than any of their other heartbreaking losses in recent memory, will sting the most. Why? Because they were, for large periods, the better team against a very good opposition. They just did not finish their chances. That will provide some hope moving forward, particularly this early in coach Joe Montemurro’s tenure, but it is off little solace now, when the wound is still fresh and burning. Caitlin Foord had three chances in the first-half she would like back; Kaitlyn Torpey snatched at a chance she could have buried; Sam Kerr was well-marshalled and saw just one, half-chance on goal. And even when players held their nerve — think Emily van Egmond’s late, close-range piledriver and Alanna Kennedy’s powerful header — Japanese players heroically launched themselves into the trajectory of their goal-bound attempts. Japan by contrast, had just three shots on target to Australia’s five and only one after half-time — but the one that counted belonged to the magical right foot of Maika Hamano, whose quick swivel and audacious attempt could not have been placed more in the corner of the net. At the end of the day, that was the sole difference between the two teams. Japan’s coach Nils Nielsen spoke early in the tournament about his team needing to be ruthless and develop a cutting edge; they heeded his message and ended the event with a staggering 29 goals scored and just one conceded. Matildas fans were openly fearful of the ‘Nadeshiko’ entering the final; they will exit it feeling like this was the one that got away. Unlike the 2019 World Cup round of 16 loss to Norway, 2022 Olympic semifinal and bronze medal matches or the 2023 World Cup semifinal defeat to England, this game was the one Australia could and should have won. Montemurro has had just three international windows in charge, and one of them came sans most of his first-choice 11. Off a short-runway, he has achieved a lot in a little amount of time. Where the wins over North Korea and China were gritty, this was the more-realised version of his footballing vision. With more time and two international tournaments looming over the next two years (the 2027 World Cup in Brazil and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics), the platform he has given this team to launch off is significantly elevated compared to what it was nine months ago. That in itself should provide some positivity amid the gloom, even if it hard to stomach in this moment.