Australia’s Coach Sermanni Pleased with Enhanced Performance Despite Defeat to USA

Matildas head coach Tom Sermanni (70) expressed his satisfaction with the team’s enhanced performance but acknowledged that there remains significant work ahead following Australia’s 2-1 defeat to the United States at the SheBelieves Cup held in Arizona on Sunday.

After experiencing a humbling 4-0 defeat to Japan in the tournament’s opening match, Sermanni referred to that performance as “un-Australian.” The early setback seemed to linger when Lynn Biyendolo netted a goal for an experimental USA side just moments into the match, putting them ahead 1-0.

The dominance of the top-ranked Americans was evident again at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium, as Michelle Cooper extended their lead with a composed finish in the 68th minute.

Nevertheless, the Australians remained focused on their task, and substitute striker Michelle Heyman managed to pull one back with a header from a Hayley Raso cross in the 80th minute.

“I think the effort and attitude were significantly better in this match, especially after the difficult start we had,” Sermanni remarked to reporters.

“Considering how we performed in the last game and the outcome, it would have been easy for us to crumble after conceding so early today.”

“From a perspective of the team showing resilience and perseverance, I was genuinely pleased with aspects of our performance and that effort.”

Australia is set to face Colombia in their final match of the invitational tournament on Wednesday.

“We still need to improve our ball retention and our movement needs to be more fluid; our rhythm requires enhancement,” Sermanni noted.

“I felt that we were effectively overpowered by the Japanese. We need to focus on getting closer to our opponents when pressing and reintroducing that physical aspect of our game.”

“We aspire to be dynamic while in possession, yet we also wish to maintain that competitive edge that Australian teams exhibit across all sports.”