It was a tough result and tough match for the Young Matildas as they went down 2-0 to Brazil in their second group stage match of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
However, the Australian side is taking the result against the current and 11-time South American U-20 champions in their stride and apply their learnings to their final group game in Costa Rica.
For head coach Leah Blayney, there were positives to take from the soggy pitch in Alajuela, as well as key areas of improvement.
“We’re super competitive so we always want to win every match,” Blayney said in a post-match flash interview.
“Some of the takeaways we can take from the performance is that we dominated in terms of some possession at times. For us, we need to be more effective, especially with our final passes into the front third.”
Both Blayney and the players were full of praise for their Brazilian counterparts, with the coach earmarking them as a favourite to win the whole tournament.
The Young Matildas don’t often play against South American opposition so the opportunity to play against the talent of Brazil was one the group took with both hands.
“It’s an opportunity to play an international game against probably the best youth team in the world right now,” Blayney explained.
