Post-Olympic hangover continues as ‘sedentary’ Matildas fail as nervous defense proves costly in Swiss Miss

The Matildas’ hopes of starting their brave new world with a morale-boosting win were dashed in Zurich as they were grateful to escape with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland.

Australia women, hoping to bounce back from the Olympic flop with new interim coach Tom Sermani, failed to shine again in their first match since the Games at Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium.

Despite the Swiss having the better side in the first half, things were still looking promising for the Sermi team when Caitlin Ford won a penalty and converted it a few minutes before the break.

But it was canceled out by Geraldine Reutler’s 58th-minute strike amid some nervous defending, helping the world’s 25th-ranked side earn a deserved draw against a team 10 places higher in the FIFA hierarchy.

It could have been worse for the Matildas, captained by Ellie Carpenter for the first time, with Steph Catley only brought off the bench late on following recent injury problems.

In the 90th minute, Swiss substitute Larina Baumann almost took full advantage of more sloppy defending to hit the bar with a curling shot that was well beaten by Mackenzie Arnold.

The Swiss can look back with disappointment at Smila Vallotto’s glaring miss in the 40th minute, when his weak shot could not beat the smart Arnold one-on-one.

“I thought it was a little mixed,” admitted Scott Sermany, 70, charged with temporarily steadying the ship in his third term after the disastrous end to Tony Gustavsson’s reign.

Caitlin Ford hits the ball under pressure. (Photo by Arndt Wiegmann/Getty Images for Football Australia)

“I thought our pace was a little bit low in the first half and the Swiss were a little bit quicker than us, got the ball a little bit quicker.

“For large parts of the second half, we dominated without creating many chances – but at 1-0 we didn’t have to create many chances – but I was a bit disappointed with the quality of goals we gave. Defensively from our side it was It was very messed up.”

Already, Sermany had identified that Matilda’s “beaten” team was “low in confidence” and needed a win more than a good performance.

As it turned out, they found nothing.

Not a single second-half substitution, including the Matildas’ baptism of fire for 18-year-old Daniela Galic, changed the situation, even though Australia finally applied some pressure late on.

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There were worrying lapses at both ends of the pitch, with the in-form Ford driving a lone furrow forward and Mary Fowler in a predominantly deep position looking to wander as few precious chances were created.

Behind, Rautler eventually beat Arnold after the Australian defense missed several chances to clear their lines during the Swiss attack.

“It was disappointing, especially at a time when I didn’t think we were under a lot of pressure,” Sermani said. “We actually had three or four opportunities to clear the ball.”

Regarding Fowler’s anonymity, he said: “For a while in our midfield, we didn’t work at all on how to press or when to press, and the result was that Mary never got a foothold in the game. “

But he was impressed by the highly-touted Dutch-based teenager Gallic’s 15-minute final bow.

“She certainly didn’t look out of place. Looked comfortable on the ball, wanted the ball, worked hard. Going into the national team for the first time in a very tough game, I thought he acquitted himself very well.

But the Matildas will have to improve dramatically when they meet Germany, who beat them at the Olympics, on Monday (Tuesday AEDT). “Based on tonight’s performance we definitely need to move forward,” Sermani admitted.

Germany showed their quality by beating England 4-3 in a friendly at Wembley on Friday night in their first match under new coach Christian Wouk.

Germany’s clash with Australia will mark the departure of long-serving captain Alexandra Popp, who is set to retire from the national team.

© AAP