A largely negative reaction proceeded the Matildas' 7-0 loss against a young, male Newcastle Jets team in a training exercise on Wednesday night.

The hype included statements made by former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Bosnich, who on Thursday night's Triple M Rush Hour, said he would bring up the heavy defeat next time the side asked to be paid like their male counterparts.

"If it was the other way around I'd be saying the exact same thing, because every time I watch them for the next three months, I'm just going to think 7-0," he said.

This sparked an overwhelming retort from former and current female players as well as those invested in the women's game.

Some asked if he had been misquoted, suggesting he had mistaken the Matildas' requests for fair pay with the US women's team's recent fight for equal pay.

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Football commentator and former national manager Sarah Groube said the whole situation was a bit of a "storm in a teacup", considering it was quite normal for the Matildas to play and lose against male teenage footballers.

Unlike the US, who could probably field four teams at the Women's World Cup, playing men is one way an isolated country like Australia can afford to stretch player limits.

"They played against youth men's teams for the Olympic qualifiers where they scored more some nights and the guys the others, but ultimately I've never seen the coach or team actually count the goals," she said.

"It's a tremendous stretch against these young guys, they're so quick and so strong, the Matildas would have been forced to make quicker decisions than they would have be if they were playing another women's team within Australia."

Any publicity is good publicity for trans-Tasman clashes

Seven of their best were still on their way home from overseas commitments and there was dispute about the exact age of the opposition.

But, bar excuses, Groube says it would not be uncommon for other national sides from different codes to lose in similar fashion.

The Matildas thrilled Australia with a run to the 2015 Women's World Cup quarter-finals. ( Getty Images )

"As the young men start to have more testosterone through their bodies of course they're going to be a lot quicker and stronger than women, it's silly to think otherwise," she said.

The Matildas are not training to play against men or even in a multi-gendered competition, which is why the test makes for good experience.

"I can completely understand how someone who's used to watching men's football, can switch on a women's match and notice differences [but] one of the great things is the absolute respect that you see the women have for these young guys and the young guys have for the Matildas," Groube said.

As for Bosnich's comments, she said she hopes former Matilda Sarah Walsh is able to meet with the ex-Socceroo in coming days, to give him perspective of the types of uphill battles the Matildas have had to face.

"It's all fantastic publicity for these upcoming matches against New Zealand, I think it'll be extra motivation for Australia to put New Zealand away," Groube said.

"I just hope the outcome is that she can educate Mark on some of the issues that have faced women in the sport that he loves and she loves, and they're able to talk about some of the benefits that would come to the game if all people who loved football embraced women's football as much as they embraced the men's."