I bought a program, excellent value for $5, but too good to be true. It explained what "football" is, and which stadiums it would be played at & how to get there. As I was already there, this was a little pointless. The program did not list matches or team lineups.
For the first time I recall, a deafening singing of the national anthem for "Gurdbyzee", ("our land is Gurdbyzee"), by a capacity crowd. Official figures about 38,000, there's about a quarter of the seats used for media, officials, etc.
I was stunned to find my cheap tickets had me 3 rows from the front, by the corner post.
The Matildas played much much better than I last saw them in the January friendly also against Sweden at North Sydney oval (Nth Spirit).
I was pleased to see Sunni Hughes on field from the starting whistle. In the earlier friendly she was on the bench for most of the game, but still worked harder than anyone when finally let loose. In my opinion she works 10 times as hard as the vastly overrated Viduka, and her speed, agility, and creative play caused constant headaches for the Swedes trying to mark her. Viduka could learn from watching her.
The Matildas generally outplayed the Swedes for most of the game, with speed and skill. Their 1-0 lead was deserved and would have been a fitting and fair result, reversing the January 0-2 loss.
What Sweden could not match in speed or skill they made up for in falling over, having trouble balancing in the Souther Hemisphere, blatantly diving and milking tackles for free kicks. Maybe I'm biassed, but the ref seemed very willing to hand out free kicks to the Swedes for almost nothing.
Our keeper gave a solid and dependable performance, often doing sweeping work. Tann-Darby was generally solid in defence, though tiring towards the end. Wilson worked very hard, constantly challenging.
Sadly what should have been a celebrated & deserved 1-0 win was thrown away by some reckless shirt pulling in the box, which needlessly gave away a penalty in the closing part of the game. Given the Swedes eagerness to do the pike with half twist, and the ref's need for glasses, they had to be careful not to even breathe on the Swedish strikers near the box, lest they fall over & gain a penalty. The shirt pull was an uncharacteristic error of judgment from a team who played well the whole game, and deserved a win.
The 1-1 draw leaves them still in the running, & I wish them well. Unlike certain of the vastly overpaid stars of the Olyroos (Viduka), the Matildas worked their butts off the entire 90 minutes.
Sorry I can't be more specific, but with no match sheet, it's hard.