The tactical turning point that clicked Matildas into gear

Whilst all the headlines after the match were about the player of the match performance from Caitlin Foord and the return of captain Sam Kerr, the result could have been a lot different if not for a tactical change by Gustavsson during the contest.

The Swede admitted that their opponents surprised them on Monday evening in Sydney.

"First of all I'm very proud of the player's maturity tonight," he said.

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"Denmark came out and surprised us with a four-four-two, high press. They did not shy away from the occasion. We knew that part of that would be how to deal with the space between the midfield and the backline. I think we struggled in the first 15 minutes.

"But in tournament football you need to play the game in front of you and find a way to win. I think we found our way in the middle of the first half when we made some tactical adjustments.

"Then a collective effort to keep a clean sheet together with some individual brilliance on the break like players like Caitlin Foord was enough. Football is one of those sports where it's difficult to do tactical adjustments during the game. It's far away for the players to hear when there's 75,000 people in the stands."

Defender and stand-in captain Steph Catley - who had an injury scare which caused a break in play - said it was important to gather their thoughts midway through that first half.

"We fought our way back in. We changed a few things and we capitalised on our chances. I had a little role but once I got up and got moving it was all OK."

Coming up against either France or Morocco, the Matildas will have to start out of the blocks much quicker.

Gustavsson said that the team could have used players like Mary Fowler much more effectively against Denmark.

"I'm going to be honest I think we didn't activate Mary as much as we could have, especially in the first half," he said.

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"She's extremely good at link up play and then playing players in. I don't think we used her especially after we won the ball. When you end up in a deeper block then you need to get out and solve that initial pressure and we do that by activating Mary by a linking player.

"The way she weights her passes is world class."