Matildas vs Great Britain: What we learned as Channel Seven drops the ball and Sam Kerr reinforces her star status

Josh Thomas

Matildas vs Great Britain: What we learned as Channel Seven drops the ball and Sam Kerr reinforces her star status image

The Matildas claimed an unforgettable 4-3 win over Great Britain in the Olympic quarter-finals on Friday night. 

Sam Kerr scored a decisive brace to reinforce her star status, while Channel Seven once again infuriated football fans with their television coverage. 

Australia may have found their feet in attack against Great Britain but we also can't forget about a coming-of-age performace from the Matildas goalkeeper. 

Sporting News wraps up what we learned from the Matildas win...

Channel Seven drops the ball again

Fans hoping to watch the second half of this epic match via free-to-air television were left hanging by Channel Seven.

Having already been slammed by football fans for their coverage of football to date, Channel Seven went one worse by forgetting to give the Matildas a channel at all for the first five minutes of the second half. 

With Australia leading 1-0 at the time, it's safe to say fans weren't impressed. 




 

Sam Kerr steps up when it counts

While you don't always see a star through the clouds, when you do catch a glimpse, they profoundly change the night sky. 

That pretty much sums up Sam Kerr's match against Great Britain with the Matildas captain struggling to make an impact before popping up with a dramatic 89th-minute equaliser to make it 2-2.

Kerr would then score the eventual winner in extra time as she headed home from close range when given half a chance.

While Kerr certainly didn't shine across the full 120 minutes, her two moments of magic show why she's the undisputed star of this talented team. 


Teagan Micah ready to claim the No.1 spot

After being brought in to replace Lydia Williams against Sweden last week, Teagan Micah has retained her position between the sticks for the Matildas and showed why against Great Britain. 

The 23-year-old was kept busy early on in the quarter-final and made a number of fine saves inside the first 30 minutes. 

While powerless to stop Ellen White's brilliant first goal, Micah could have arguably done better to keep out her second having got a hand to it. 

But the young keeper more than made amends in extra time as she made two super saves in the space of a few minutes with scores locked at 2-2. 

Micah then made herself the hero by saving a penalty from Caroline Weir in the 102nd minute with the Matildas scoring themselves just a minute later. 

Long seen as a future No.1 for the Matildas, Micah has shown in Japan she's ready to make that position her own right now with a bright future clearly ahead of her. 

Josh Thomas