Matildas have questions to answer everywhere after Olympic humbling

Whatever the expectation was heading into the Matildas ' opening match of the Olympic women's football tournament , against Germany , surely no one was expecting that .

Goals to Marina Hegering , Lea Schüller , and Jule Brand gave the 2016 Olympic champions a 3-0 win and the perfect opening to their tournament.

For the Matildas, it was a horror start, a tough watch in the middle of the night for those back home, and a wakeup call according to captain Steph Catley .

Morale was high with Catley and Caitlin Foord both deemed healthy enough to start after injury and precaution had kept them out of the Matildas' final warmup game against Canada . Although Tameka Yallop was ruled out and replaced in the 18 by Sharn Freier , there was nothing obvious to worry about, personnel wise.

But what followed was one of the worst games of consequence played by the Matildas under Tony Gustavsson. Moreover, it was confusing in how un-Matildas-like it was -- not just in defence but in attack.

One of the strongest transformations under Gustavsson has been the Matildas' defensive stocks. It's an area of the pitch where assistant coach Jens Fjellstrom gets a lot of credit, and rightly so.

Under his guidance and direction, the Australians have been able to nip silly defensive errors in the bud. There has been a concerted focus on set-piece defending, learning not to panic, and fostering stronger connections between the back four. And over the course of the past three-and-a-half years, the proof had been in the pudding.

But the team's usual defensive solidity looked like it had been packed in the luggage that got lost on the team's charter flight from the training camp in Marbella to Marseille.

Both Hegering and Schüller scored free headers from Giulia Gwinn corners: Hegering ghosted between Ellie Carpenter and Alanna Kennedy at the far post while Schüller was simply left to her own devices, completely unmarked.

If not for an offside Alexandra Popp , Germany could have easily had a hat trick of easy, headed goals.

It immediately bore dozens of memes, all using Sam Kerr 's quote about the USWNT 's record on defending set pieces --  "do youse not work on that?" --  from the Netflix documentary on the team's 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup .

Ultimately, the first two goals were undeniable errors that the Matildas will be filthy with. And perhaps if they had been the only goals conceded, the aftermath wouldn't feel as bad as it does.

But Germany's third goal was a team move that saw the Matildas a beat behind for the entire passage, with Brand tapping the ball into the back of the net. Those in yellow looked like dancers who hadn't been given the choreography but were trying their best to not to look out of place.

Naturally, the talk postgame was about how those mistakes must be eliminated and quickly. But defensive errors aren't the only thing that require tweaking ahead of the Zambia clash on Monday (AEST).

Australia also struggled up front; this was a scenario that felt more likely than the defensive stumbles but it was no less disappointing to watch.

Gustavsson chose to employ Cortnee Vine as the No. 9. It was a decision that prioritised Mary Fowler as a free-roaming No. 10 with Foord out on the left to work in combination with her Arsenal teammate, Catley -- a connection Gustavsson leans on time and time again.

But Vine as the central striker looked as untested as it felt. The general wisdom that Michelle Heyman would be better selected in the Matildas' second fixture since she can't play consecutive 90-minute games; but Vine as the next woman in to occupy that central space up top wasn't right either.

On top of that, the Catley-Foord combination failed to capitalise on their bright moments while Fowler was unable to impact that game in the way she -- and Gustavsson and the nation -- wanted or needed.

It begs the question: Do Gustavsson's attacking priorities need to be changed? Should Fowler be deployed out wide where she enjoyed success at club level? Does shifting Foord more central solve the No. 9 problem? Is there value in reprising the Fowler and Emily van Egmond double false No. 9 that enjoyed success in the small sample of games at the World Cup? Would that in any way solve the seeming disconnect between the midfield and the forward line in this game?

These are the questions both Gustavsson and his team will ponder as they recover and immediately shift focus to Zambia in Nice. A lot needs to be tweaked in an incredibly short amount of time if the Matildas are to keep their medal dreams alive.