The Matildas Olympic qualifying hopes were left hanging this week after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of world champions Japan put the Australian women’s team on the brink of elimination.
The Matildas held Japan scoreless in the first half at Shandong Sports Centre in Jinan, China, after a series of brilliant saves by goalkeeper Lydia Williams. But a succession of strong build-up play saw Japan’s Nahomi Kawasumi score the match-determining goal in the 62nd minute of the second half.
WAIS-AIS athlete Collette McCallum played in the match for the Matildas, who now need to win their remaining games and hope other results fall in their favour.
With three matches played and one win and two losses recorded, the Matildas now face an uphill battle to book a spot at the 2012 London Olympics.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Matildas Head Coach Tom Sermanni congratulated the Japanese team on their victory, and said they were the better team on the day.
“In reality, we were completely outplayed by the Japanese,” Sermanni said.
“Japan are playing with a huge amount of confidence and belief at the moment.”
“We knew the games in this tournament were going to be very tight, with a question mark about where we would be at having to back up after the Women’s World Cup.”
“We felt that we were well prepared and well rested going into the game, which we thought might have given us an edge. But that turned out to be incorrect.”
“The key thing now that is a test of our abilities and of our character is that we still have two games left in this competition. There is still the possibility of qualifying for the Olympics. While that’s still alive, we need to go out and perform.”
The Matildas will play China on 8 September and South Korea on 11 September.
–FFA
