Reality has bent backwards in this time warp of a tournament. Soon, Australia’s dreamy campaign may feel a figment of the public’s imagination.
Credit to the contents of Suncorp Stadium: they booed like they really meant it. When the referee blew for a penalty. When Fridolina Rolfö converted it. When Sweden celebrated afterwards. Try telling the masses who’ve spent the afternoon chanting and cheering on Caxton Street that the third-place play-off is redundant.
But still they pushed on, trying to goad Sweden’s blonde ponytails into turnovers and probing for space. Gianni Infantino would have said they were picking their battles. In fact, the FIFA president did actually say that, at Friday’s Women’s Football Convention in Sydney.
Safe to say, given the circumstances, it was probably not tactics. More likely it was the Kings of Leon gig the pair attended together in Auckland last October. “You know that I could use somebody,” Gustavsson might have said, just before announcing the unchanged line-up who could be forgiven for playing dead on their feet.Indeed, Gustavsson might have used somebody like Charli Grant. Or Alex Chidiac. Or Clare Wheeler or Courtney Nevin .
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