It means nothing short of a victory against Canada in Melbourne will do for the Matildas to secure safe passage into the knockout phase without relying on other results. While they should be boosted by the return of Mary Fowler from concussion,coach Tony Gustavsson will be praying that Sam Kerr can recover from her calf injury in time to aid their cause - or else she may not get the chance to step on the field at this World Cup at all.
This result will intensely sharpen the scrutiny on the Swede,who did not turn to his substitutes until the 82nd minute despite being two goals in arrears. When he did,he bizarrely turned to defender Clare Polkinghorne,while shifting Kennedy into an attacking role,and giving only five minutes plus stoppage time to creative outlet Alex Chidiac - decisions that speak to a lack of trust in the players outside his usual starters.
Despite a disruptive build-up after the training ground incidents that saw Fowler and Aivi Luik both ruled out,Australia started brightly enough,and crafted a few early opportunities,but capitulated after van Egmond’s goal.
Making her first start for the Matildas in almost a year,her strike capped off a slick move that punished Nigerian captain Chiamaka Nnadozie for a shanked goal kick,which fell into the lap of Katrina Gorry.
She unleashed Caitlin Foord,who surged down the left flank and then looked inboard - where van Egmond was ghosting into the box at the perfect moment - and threaded a pass to her through three defenders.
Van Egmond carefully side-footed it into the bottom corner,and then sprinted straight into the outstretched arms of injured skipper Kerr on the bench as the rest of the team mobbed around them.