Australia’s Michelle Heyman wins the match, making it an Olympic classic.
The best possible escape? There have been comebacks in international football history. There have been thrillers. And Sunday night in Nice, there was whatever the hell was going on between Australia and Zambia.
The Matildas overcame a three-goal deficit, a brace from the most expensive signing in women’s football, Racheal Kundananji, and a hat-trick from Zambian star Barbra Banda to miraculously win. The Matildas received three points that may perhaps sustain them in Paris 2024 beyond the group stage, in case they required a heart attack to jumpstart their Olympic journey.
Maybe never before have so few people seen such a thrilling Olympic football match live. Just a few thousand fans had traveled to the periphery of the Mediterranean city, the Stade de Nice. However, they watched something extraordinary and bizarre – a yo-yo between attacking prowess and defensive weakness rarely seen at this exclusive international level.
The obituaries for the Matildas’ Olympic campaign had already been written. Back home, enthusiasts were already honing their blades. Like the character of Marie Antoinette at Friday’s opening ceremony, Tony Gustavsson, the boss of Matildas, was squarely in the firing line. Up to that point, it wasn’t.
Zambia is down 1-0. Australia 1-1. Zambia 2, 1. Zambia 3-1. Australia 3, 2. Zambia, 4-2. 5-2 Zambia. Australia 3, 5, 3. Australia 5–4. 5–5. Australia scored a stunning goal through a penalty granted by VAR, headed by captain Steph Catley.
Substitute Michelle Heyman found herself through on goal right at the end. The 36-year-old attacker came back to the Matildas in their hour of need after having retired from international football in 2019. Heyman eyed Ngambo Musole, the goalie for Zambia, just before the ninetieth minute. And that was all that was on the striker’s mind, one small notion. “Don’t miss,” she chuckled later.
She didn’t. Australia, 5–6. Enter the chaos.
The Matildas took their first and only lead of the match thanks to a pinpoint strike by Heyman. However, it was the sole viable lead. A thrilling 11-goal game. And a return that will be remembered for a very long time in Matildas folklore.
Catley stated, “It was a very eventful day,” with a lot of tact. Of course, we wouldn’t want things to turn out precisely as they did. However, I believe the way the game concluded speaks much about this team’s character and spirit. In the 55th minute, we were probably down five to two, but we never gave up.
On Wednesday, the Matildas will play the United States in Marseille to round off the group stage. If Australia defeats the Americans, they will undoubtedly go to the quarterfinals; but, as the top two third-place teams advance, a draw or even a loss may be sufficient.
They claim that the final scorecard is devoid of images and that the results column is devoid of adjectives. “We had to prevail in the end, and we succeeded in doing so,” Catley continued. Similar thoughts were expressed by Gustavsson, who said, “We just needed to score more than them tonight – and we did.”
All of that is accurate, but over the course of that ninety minutes, it does seem to hide a vibrant, chaotic world of feeling. Because they were losing the most of the encounter. Instead, for a large portion of the interaction, it was Nice’s nightmare rerun. The Matildas were eliminated from the 2019 Women’s World Cup in this very spot after suffering a crushing defeat on penalty kicks, with captain Kerr soaring high. It was Nice’s first nightmare, and it took four years to exorcise those demons—along with one of the most amazing shootout victories in football history.
This was like the sequel for eighty-nine minutes on Sunday, only much worse. Australia was dominated by the Zambians for the majority of the game. After goal, there was no response. Until the Matildas reappearance, which happened first slowly and then unexpectedly.
There ought to have been a mismatch here. Even at 64th place in the world, Zambia is at its highest standing. The Matildas, who have competed in international competitions, are ranked 12th. However, Banda made it obvious that the Matildas were in for a fight when she opened the score in less than 40 seconds.
That brawl went on even after Heyman’s goal, the match’s eleventh, as Zambia attempted to level the scores. Though the number of spectators in Nice may have been small, the resilient Australian group more than compensated with their energetic performance in the final moments. The stadium roared when Venezuelan referee Emikar Calderas sounded the final whistle. It may as well have been filled to bursting. After a frenzied display for the audience, the Matildas had somehow come out on top.
The whistling caused destruction in Zambia as well. “This kind of match loss is worse than heartbreak,” Kundananji declared. “We were winning, and then we simply dropped the game.” This is incomprehensible.
That encapsulates what happened on Sunday night—something that is incomprehensible—perhaps the best. For Matildas, this bizarre show has taken the place of the horror they had in Nice. Three points in the end means that the Matildas’ Olympic dream is still alive.
