24 Jun "Flawed" FFA “botched” Matildas’ World Cup campaign: Whateley

Posted at 03:14h in News by

The Matildas are out of the World Cup in the Round of 16.

Yesterday there were the polite expressions of pride and faux heartbreak after the botched penalty shootout. But once the cheerleading stops, there’s an inescapable truth – it’s a failed campaign.

Which is not to say it wasn’t memorable.

The incredible comeback from two-nil down against Brazil, Sam Kerr’s remarkable four-goal haul in Grenoble, these will rightly be heralded.

But the opportunity and the expectation demanded more than the first stage of the knockout tournament.

Two years ago, Australia prevailed in the Tournament of Nations beating all of the United States, Japan and Brazil. 11 months ago, it finished level with the US failing to lift the trophy only on goal difference.

We all know what changed – the coach was sacked.

FFA Chief Executive David Gallop has stated overnight: "Put simply we believed change was necessary to give us the best chance to perform at the World Cup. We do not resile from that position.”

That position is not only flawed. It is proven to be so.

If the sacking of Alen Stajcic was necessary, that case hasn’t been made publicly. If it was by design, then it has been an unmitigated disaster so close to the World Cup. If it was political then it is shameful.

This FFA administration lost Ange Postecoglou seven months from the World Cup in circumstances that were foreseeable and preventable. The unsuccessful Socceroos campaign in Russia left no legacy whatsoever.

This FFA administration then jettisoned Alen Stajcic five months from the World Cup in circumstances that are murky. By every measure it undermined the Matilda’s World Cup campaign on the pitch. To pretend otherwise betrays the players themselves.

This tournament comes around once every four years – the last two campaigns under FFA watch have been botched.

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