{"id":323976,"date":"2023-08-16T14:34:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T14:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=323976"},"modified":"2023-08-16T14:58:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T14:58:26","slug":"struggled-stars-forgettable-moment-haunts-matildas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=323976","title":{"rendered":"&#039;Struggled&#039;: Star&#039;s forgettable moment haunts Matildas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/matildas\" title=\"Matildas\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matildas<\/a> are out of the <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/fifa-womens-world-cup\" title=\"World Cup\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Cup<\/a> after a <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/football\/fifa-womens-world-cup-2023-matildas-dreams-crushed-after-england-win-3-1-in-semi-final\/62f4ddfd-7be0-40d6-b20f-96c0a855b150\" title=\"devastating 3-1 semi final defeat to England\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">devastating 3-1 semi final defeat to England<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\ufeffYet in defeat, several Australian players stood tall. Others looked to have run out of puff at the business end of a gruelling tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Wide World of Sports assesses the performance of every player who took the field.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><strong>RECAP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/football\/fifa-womens-world-cup-2023-live-scores-matildas-england-results-semi-final-highlights-latest-news\/d80245a4-e6f9-4380-8af1-e61fa32ff32b\" target=\"\" title=\"Matildas hopes crushed by England\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Matildas hopes crushed by England<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/football\/fifa-womens-world-cup-semi-final-matildas-v-england-tim-cahill-roasted-instagram-post\/21551238-6290-4575-8eff-6e8bd212d917\" target=\"\" title=\"Tim Cahill roasted over &#x27;tone deaf&#x27; Matildas post\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Tim Cahill roasted over &#x27;tone deaf&#x27; Matildas post<\/strong><\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\ufeffIN PICTURES:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/football\/fifa-womens-world-cup-2023-matildas-england-in-pictures\/c6dd6bfb-e2e6-48ad-bffb-810f9cbfda7d\" title=\"Images that defined the World Cup semi final\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Images that defined the World Cup semi final<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>18. Mackenzie Arnold (6.5) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pulled off a couple of good saves to keep Australia in the<br \/>\n contest as she denied English midfielder Georgia Stanway and forward Lauren<br \/>\n Hemp. Hard to blame for any of the goals and overall could hold her head high<br \/>\n after a solid performance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.Clare Polkinghorne (5.5) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Came in for the ill Alanna Kennedy and struggled with<br \/>\n the movement of the England forward play as they looked to get in behind and expose her<br \/>\n lack of pace.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"4eba3769-8e18-4a8e-ae21-0e95651e56ae\" src=\"https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/4eba3769-8e18-4a8e-ae21-0e95651e56ae\" alt=\"Clare Polkinghorne of Australia battles for the ball against Ella Toone of England. \" data-width=\"5201\" data-height=\"2925\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Steph Catley (7) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Again provided a solid defensive foundation down the left-hand<br \/>\n side of the Australian defence and delivered some dangerous crosses when pushing<br \/>\n forward.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. Caitlin Foord (6)<\/strong> Struggled to involve herself in the game as Australia were unable<br \/>\n to get the ball wide and utilise her pace and trickery. Worked hard to track back but<br \/>\n was unable to have the impact Australia would have been hoping for in such a big<br \/>\n game.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>11. Mary Fowler (6.5) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Looked to drop deep and inject herself into the contest when<br \/>\n she could. Looked livelier in the second half but was well marshalled by a disciplined<br \/>\n and organised English team.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"9ebf59f4-7acb-48df-b8a3-8897a56f1284\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/9ebf59f4-7acb-48df-b8a3-8897a56f1284\" alt=\"\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"683\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>15. Clare Hunt (6.5) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Again produced her usual neat and composed passing game but<br \/>\n let Alessio Russo turn in the box to set up England&#x27;s opener and looked a little<br \/>\n unsure defensively at times next to Polkinghorne.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>16. Hayley Raso (5) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Struggled to involve herself out wide with her touches in the<br \/>\n final third lacking the quality that was needed with her attacking threat nullified by<br \/>\n the English defence.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>19. Katrina Gorry (6)<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>Again worked tirelessly in the midfield but was overrun by a<br \/>\n dominate English team in the first half. Improved in the second half as Australia<br \/>\n looked to gain a greater ascendency in the match as England&#x27;s press faltered.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"98cfadc5-648f-45df-8d0b-4c8f16153c34\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/98cfadc5-648f-45df-8d0b-4c8f16153c34-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A devastated Sam Kerr sits on the pitch wondering what might have been after the World Cup semi final.\" data-width=\"3388\" data-height=\"1905\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>20. Sam Kerr (8) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Started her first game of the World Cup and scored one of the<br \/>\n goals of the tournament as she picked up the ball near halfway and drove at the<br \/>\n English defence before unleashing a piledriver into the top corner. Was a<br \/>\n constant threat to the English backline with her pace in behind as well as<br \/>\n providing some lovely touches. Was unlucky not to have a second as she blazed<br \/>\n wide after an Australian corner fortuitously fell to her deep into the second half.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>21. Ellie Carpenter (5) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Again struggled with her ability to keep possession and<br \/>\n delivery when positioned in attacking crossing positions. Was at fault for the<br \/>\n second England goal as she was outmuscled by English forward Lauren Hemp.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"824575e9-0681-47b5-9ba2-dfc2d96f0d2c\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/824575e9-0681-47b5-9ba2-dfc2d96f0d2c-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Ellie Carpenter, second from left, sinks her head in her hand as she reflects on the Matildas&#x27; loss to England alongside Hayley Raso (left), Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord.\" data-width=\"5236\" data-height=\"2944\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>23. Kyra Cooney-Cross (6) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lacked her usual poise and control as she at times found<br \/>\n herself overwhelmed in the heart of Australia&#x27;s midfield by a dominate England team.<br \/>\n Improved slightly in the second half where she produced some lovely moments of skill as<br \/>\n she looked to try and wrestle some control back in the midfield.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong><br \/>\nSubstitutes <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Cortnee Vine, introduced 70th min (6)<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>Came close to restoring parity with a hard low shot<br \/>\n after latching onto a Kerr pass. Injected pace and direct running onto Australia&#x27;s right side<br \/>\n after coming on for a disappointing Raso.\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Emily Van Egmond, introduced 80th min (N\/A)<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alex Chidiac, introduced 88th min (N\/A)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The Matildas are out of the World Cup after a devastating 3-1 semi final defeat to England. \ufeffYet in defeat, several Australian players stood tall. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=323976\" title=\"&#039;Struggled&#039;: Star&#039;s forgettable moment haunts Matildas\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323976"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=323976"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323983,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323976\/revisions\/323983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/323978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=323976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=323976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=323976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}