The No. 5 Women’s Soccer Team In The World Got OBLITERATED By A Boys Under-15 Squad

According to the FIFA World Women’s Rankings, the Australia Matildas are the fifth best team in international women’s soccer. They rank 20 of them, so seems like rounding out the top five is definitely something to be proud of, as it currently seeds them in front of perennial Women’s World Cup contenders like Brazil, Japan, Canada and China.

But then again, the Matildas did just suffer an absolute drubbing at the hands of a boys U15 team…

By boys U15 team, I mean the Newcastle Jets under-15 side, and by drubbing…I mean they lost 7-0. SEVEN TO ZERO. Versus kids barely on the verge of high school. Oh, and then they tried to make excuses about it, too.

From The Age:

The match was a warm-up ahead of the Matildas’ friendlies against New Zealand’s national women’s soccer team, the Football Ferns.

It is understood the match was more of a training exercise for the Matildas, who played with a rotating squad. Training matches are often used by the Matildas while they are in training camps, to experiment in match situations.

I get that it’s a training exercise and that’s all well and good, but what are you training for lady Matildas? Losing? Because if that’s the case, then you’re doing a damn good job of it. Experimenting in match situations where you let the other team willingly put the ball in your net, I guess? Even with a rotating squad, you’d expect the No. 5 ranked team in the world to hold their own, no?

But while the Australian side was missing some international players, some reports named experienced players in the line-up for the night, including co-captains Lisa De Vanna and Clare Polkinghorne, former AFC player of the year Katrina Gorry, Caitlin Foord and Michelle Heyman.

The Matildas are ranked fifth in the world and reached the quarter finals at last year’s women’s World Cup in Canada, where they lost 1-0 to Japan, who were eventual runners-up in the tournament.

Should it even matter that some star players were out of the fold? No, it shouldn’t? Because you’re an internationally sanctioned team that’s supposed to compete at a high level regardless? Okay then. Just checking.

Has to be an embarrassing loss to swallow.

[h/t @TMyman]