We could talk about how the Matildas only seem to play when it rains in Brisbane. We could talk about how the Korean players quite literally all had the same haircut. We could talk about the giant, inflatable Come Play world cup bid kangaroo that just about cried out to be tackled.
But more worthy of discussion is that the 15th-in-the-world-ranked Matildas have gone undefeated (and even got up) against the 5th-in-the-world and 1st-in-Asia Koreans. And how they did it by keeping their cool under tense conditions.
Australian athletes have always been giant killers, so it's perhaps unsurprising that they first drew with, then defeated, Asian women's football's best. But they're a confidence-boosting couple of results when you consider that the Matildas are currently a team in rebuilding phase.
With almost an entirely new (and youthful) backline after experienced players such as Cheryl Salisbury retired, it's been anyone's guess how the Matildas will fair in the upcoming 'group of death' group stage of the Asian Cup (which doubles as a Women's World Cup qualifier).
Anything can happen on the day, but the friendly results prove that while they might lack experience, the Matildas will be far from easy beats. And that even they do lose, we can be sure that they'll do so good sportingly.
Sarah Walsh drew first blood 30-odd minutes in when she ran onto a Katie Gill header and buried the ball at the near post. The Koreans answered quickly with an unmarked header in the 34th. Then the referee awarded a penalty for an infringement that may or may not have occurred in the box (who are we to question it?), which made the Koreans more than a little unhappy.
They threw their hands in the air, stormed to the sideline, and refused to continue to play — even the keeper, which means that the Matildas could technically have taken the penalty completely unimpeded.
So much for a friendly. So much for the focus on fair play.
Even when the Koreans did finally head back to continue, there was plenty of argy bargy on the edge of the box (note to relevant Korean player: it's reasonably obvious that you're barging someone when you're, er, just about bent at 90 degrees and leading with your butt). But an unperturbed Katie Gill buried the ball and the Australians headed 2-1 into the break.
There were another two goals in the game — an error in defence gave the Koreans their second and equalising goal, before Kyah Simon pulled off a stellar, sharp-angle dig to put the ball past the keeper who'd come off her line in the dying moments of the game. But while the Matildas' 3-2 victory was very welcome, it was even more impressive given the team's never-say-die, get-on-and-play, good-sporting attitude.
The next time we'll see them (we hope, if the broadcasting gods are smiling on us) will be at the Asian Cup in May. Expect more good sportwomanship from the Matildas. And hope for some more giant-killing results.
