Major gamble Matildas must take after ‘we got worse’

But while the stats tell a promising story, ultimately they’re about as valuable as Monopoly money. Goals are the currency of football, and the scoreboard and World Cup table both record that Nigeria scored more of them than we did.

The hard truth is that as the game rolled on, the Africans got better and we got worse. It felt like the Matildas needed a whipper snipper to cut through that great green defensive wall, but they never made it past the sausage stall out the front of Bunnings.

The Matildas’ inability to convert territorial dominance into goals is officially now a problem. Coach Tony Gustavsson freely admitted as much in a post-match interview.

“We had most of the possession… but at the end of the day it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net,” the 49-year-old Swede said.

In truth, that was also the story of the Matildas’ first match against Ireland. Steph Catley’s well-taken penalty masked our lack of attacking spark to a degree, or at least gave us the luxury of ignoring it.

Emily van Egmond’s deft finish late in the first half to send Australia up 1-0 against Nigeria also gave you the brief feeling that everything was coming up Tillies on the goal-scoring front. But the joy was short-lived.

The Matildas lack brilliance up front. This is the inescapable but not unchangeable truth.

Catley forces early save

So where to find players with the killer instinct to find the back of the net? They’ve been sitting on the sideline, and they go by the names of Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler, that’s where.

Hopefully Fowler will likely be back for Monday night’s must-win clash against Canada in Melbourne after she missed the Nigeria game with a mild concussion sustained in training. As for Kerr, consider these among the first of approximately 27 million words which will be written Australia-wide between now and Monday on the subject of her availability.

Australian sporting folklore is riddled with stories of players struggling out of hospital beds and throwing away the crutches to play their part in heroic victories. It’s time for another instalment in this saga.

Kerr originally said her calf strain should be right in time for the knockout phase of the tournament, as though getting there was a formality. Memo: it’s not.

If we don’t beat Canada, then we’re as dead as the nightlife in the Canadian capital Ottawa. If the 10th-ranked Matildas are to upset the world’s seventh-ranked team and reigning Olympic champions, surely Kerr must take the field.

Unfortunately, there are always deeper forces at play in such situations. There may well be pressure on Gustavsson from Kerr’s English club, Chelsea, not to risk long-term injury.

Gustavsson himself will no doubt be wary of aggravating Kerr’s calf and losing Australia’s all-time leading international scorer for the rest of the tournament, should the Matildas make it past Canada.

The latest word is that a decision will be made late on Monday after Kerr faces a fitness test. If she’s even half fit, then do the right thing by Australia, Tony, and get her out there.

There are players in all sports that don’t just create magic themselves, they make magic happen around them by their very presence on the field. The Matildas right now lack spark.

Their on-field communication is shaky, and their confidence clearly a little shaken. Sam Kerr can change all that, even on one leg.

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Matildas v Nigeria in pictures: Tony Gustavsson coy on Sam Kerr’s injury status ahead of must-win clash