The Matildas have played Jamaica just once before: funnily enough, in the final group game of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
After losing their opening group game to Italy and coming from behind to beat Brazil, pressure was on Australia in Grenoble to get a big result over the Reggae Girlz in order to make it through to the Round of 16.
But there was an added layer of stress. Because both games on that final day kicked off simultaneously, hundreds of Matildas fans at the stadium had Italy v Brazil’s match playing on their phones, as the permutations of the group meant that Australia could end up in a totally different city (and against a totally different opponent) depending on where they finished and how many goals they scored.
The Matildas skipper put four past Jamaica in their 4-1 victory, becoming the first Australian to score a hat-trick at a World Cup and just the third woman footballer ever to score four or more goals in a single game (Americans Michelle Akers and Alex Morgan jointly hold the record with five).
The result meant Australia went through to the knock-outs in second place after Brazil defeated Italy 1-0 to go through in third (but we don’t talk about what happened after that).
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(Lol, that gif kills me).
Jamaica weren’t bad that day, though, scoring their first and only World Cup goal through midfielder Havana Solaun and having a handful of chances through their talismanic striker, Manchester City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, who has opted out of this international window for personal reasons.
Indeed, they pushed Czechia all the way to the 90th minute on Sunday, coming from behind twice before the European side scored in stoppage time to win 3-2, so they’re nothing to sniff at.
Will Kerr manifest her mountainous performance from four years ago to give Jamaica a horrible time? Or will Jamaica pose more of a test than what their 2019 score-line suggests?
dan