Anyway, that’s enough of my stream of consciousness masquerading as a minute-by-minute, thank you for following along with it all this evening and stay tuned for Jo Khan’s report. Alan Hughes on the emails obviously not a big fan of how things went: “That is the last “football” match that will be watched in this house. What on earth was the referee doing allowing all that blatant time-wasting by the cynical Iranian team? A travesty.” Seems a bit of an overreach to discard an entire match based off one result, Alan. Maybe give your local A-League Women side a go when they return to action and see if that’s more to your taste? Tony Gustavsson to Network Ten: “Football is also about relationships and getting time together to get synchronised and understand each other. You can see little training time and a lot of new combinations out there. “But I love the bravery that we played with out there tonight. Compare this game to the Ireland game [the Matildas opening game of the World Cup], a low-block 5-4-1, the Ireland game we didn’t have the guts to play through. “A lot more combination play today and it’s time to take the next step with the ball. I saw a brave team trying to play combinations today which I was happy with.” The post-game punditry panel are coming out in force for Clare Wheeler, saying that she’s giving Gustavsson a selection headache and pressuring Cooney-Cross and Gorry. It’s a big call to replace one of those two but the Everton midfielder was good tonight. Maybe it’s something about Australian football. Be it women’s teams or men’s teams, senior teams or junior teams, outfits in green and gold consistently struggle to break down opponents sitting in a low-block. In major tournaments against the best sides in the world, this isn’t often a problem. But against lesser heralded foes such as those frequently found in Asia it’s an issue that keeps raising its head. Maybe this is all looking a gift horse in the mouth. The Matildas won, after all. And they didn’t really have time together in camp before kickoff (albeit, given that 21 of the 22 have been part of the squad for a while, that’s probably not as much of an issue as it could be). But maybe these are the conversations we’ll be having, need to be having, over the coming years as we all wait to see if this side can take another step in the coming years. Of course, the solution for this all, as it is in most tactical and technical issues, is probably fixed at a youth level. Andy Harper calls it a “frustrating night” for the Matildas and he’s absolutely right. They end the evening with 79% possession, 19 corners, and 25 shots (six on target) while restricting Iran to just two shots but could only find a way past Khajavi on two occasions. Iran defended with desperation, numbers, and a liberal sprinkling of the dark arts and frustrated their opponents. They were never going to win but they didn’t want to lose by much. And they didn’t. We asked pre-game if the experimental Australian outfit would have what it would take to break down a resolute low-block and for the most part, they couldn’t do it. Now, few opponents will sit as deep and abandon thoughts of attacking like the Iranians did. More openings should ostensibly be open against better credentialled opponents. But this was still an opponent that would have been expected to be dispatched with a bit more ruthlessness. Of course, then that Fowler, Catley, and Kerr substitution came. The addition of the fresh legs, sheer class of the former two, and the nose for goal from the latter broke the backs of the Iranian resistance. Australia have a lot of players to come into this squad – we didn’t even see Caitlin Foord or Katrina Gorry tonight, Australia’s best at the World Cup – and they’ll be ready for future games. But are these problems against lesser opponents about talent or are they systemic? What did it all mean? Well, we can have our hypothesis, but maybe we need a bit more data. Philippines coach Mark Torcaso will no doubt have been watching that game with keen interest, we’ll have to see what lessons he, and Gustavsson, will have taken from this game ahead of their meeting on Sunday. Full time! Australia 2-0 Iran The Matildas have done it. Carpenter and Kerr with goals in either half to consign a brave Iranian outfit to defeat in their opening AFC Olympic Qualification fixture. 90+12: Zolfi tries to break down the wing but Carpenter snuffs it out. 90+10: Commentators note that it’s gone past midnight on the Eastern seaboard of Australia. Indeed it has, Robbie Thompson, and some of us need to be at a press conference with Melbourne Victory men’s coach Tony Popovic first thing in the morning. 90+11: Yet more corners and yet more desperate defending from the Iranians – Kerr having a header cleared off the line, albeit it looked like it came off van Egmond. 90+8 Mins: Fowler with another incredible delivery for Kerr but her header goes wide. Fowler really could hit a needle in a haystack with a pinpoint cross. 90+7 Mins: Space is opening up now and the Iranians use it to launch a rare move forward. Alas, it ends without them being able to work it into the penalty area. 90+5 Mins: And the corner is cleared away… for another corner. The 16th set piece delivery is whipped in by Catley and onto the head of an open Kennedy but the shot goes wide. It should probably be 3-0 after that, in all honesty. 90+4 Mins: Kerr to Vine to Carpenter but Mohammadi gets a leg on the resulting cross before it can get to van Egmond. Corner for Australia, their 15th of the game. 90+3 Mins: Micah comes out and claims a loose ball. The Matildas immediately march up the other end and get Kerr in behind after a fantastic ball from Fowler but her chipped effort can only find the roof of the net. 90+1 Mins: We’ll have 11 minutes of extra time! That’s the downside of employing the Dark Arts as liberally as the Iranians have, I guess. 90 Mins: Catley again gets down the left and sends in a cross but Carpenter just sends it wide. 89 Mins: Ok, now the Twitter denizens are pointing out the historical relevancy of an Australia 2-0 Iran scoreline. Thanks, I hate it. 87 Mins: Two changes for the Iranians late on. Hasti Forouzandeh and Samaneh Chahkandi are on, HaMona Hamoudi and Zahra Sarbali are off. 86 Mins: Vine slides a ball forward for Kerr on the right side of the penalty area but her resulting cross finds nobody waiting for it. 84 Mins: One gets the feeling that Kerr’s goal might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Iranian defence. They’ve worked so hard and been so brave (and, yes, gone down as much as possible as well, Dark Arts) to keep their world-class opponents at bay only to watch Kerr, Sam flipping Kerr, come off the bench and find the net. There’s an added sense of malice and energy around the most recent Matildas attacks. 83 Mins: Another substitution for Australia and that effort from Sayer will be her last contribution, with Kyra Cooney-Cross coming on to replace her. 82 Mins: Sayer tries to get in on the act after being played through but Khajavi is able to produce a super save. Fowler has a shot a minute later but it goes straight to Khajavi, who falls on it. 80 Mins: It had to be Kerr, didn’t it? Goal! Australia 2-0 Iran. Sam Kerr ("78) That’s what the crowd came to see! It’s the substitutes combining! Catley and Fowler string together a super one-two to work the former into space on the left and the Arsenal star promptly sends in a pinpoint cross that is fired into an open goal at the back post by Kerr. Kerr will get the headlines but good lord, Catley is incredibly good at this football thing. And an email from Chris Paraskevas: “Arguably a no-win situation for Tony G and his Commbank Superstarz tonight: a cricket score would have been met with cheers and eventual shrugs, but a narrow victory doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in those watching with a critical eye. “The disjointed nature of the performance can be attributed to the sudden - and by Tony G’s standards, extreme - rotation of players. But is this ponderous display not simply a result / reflection of his stubborn refusal to use more players when it mattered: during the World Cup? “An over-reliance on the usual stars creates all manner of problems tactically and in terms of morale (player politics etc.) But here’s the thing: it’s a packed house, most of the fans are young and impressionable, and the “brand” is stronger than ever. Everyone paid tickets to see Sam Kerr score a goal and FA and friends made a quick buck out of it all. “The rest are all minor details.........unless it finishes 1-1 and it’s MCG, 1997 all over again (sorry, someone had to!)” Chris, how dare you. I cried at the MCG that night. Email from James Paraskevas earlier in the half: “There’s just nothing through the middle. The Matildas keeping moving the ball wide but by the time they’ve done that Iran have gotten back in shape. We look most dangerous off crosses and set pieces.” 74 Mins: And just as I try to put some respect on Iran’s name amongst the readers, Khajavi goes down again before Catley can swing in a corner – serenaded with more boos from the HBF Park crowd as a result. 73 Mins: Iranian players look like they’re out on their feet. The Matildas are one of the most physically gifted sides in all of football and it’s taking everything from their opponents to keep them at bay. Again, it’s not pretty football but when you consider everything in context you absolutely have to admire what they’ve accomplished thus far. 72 Mins: Kerr! No! Another corner in from the right snakes past Fowler and reaches Kerr but her first-time effort rises rapidly and goes over the bar. 71 Mins: Khajavi deserves massive credit for her play tonight. It hasn’t always been convincing but she’s done her best to command her area under a barrage of balls into the box and hold her defence together. And it’s still only 1-0.