Australia 8-0 Philippines: Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord both hit hat tricks
Hometown hero Sam Kerr and Arsenal star Caitlin Foord have scored hat-tricks as the Matildas all but guaranteed passage to the next round of Olympic qualifying with an 8-0 rout of the Philippines in Perth.
In front of a sellout crowd of 59,155 at Optus Stadium on Sunday, Kerr and Foord scored first-half doubles as Australia took a 5-0 lead into the break.
Kerr secured her hat-trick just 24 seconds into the second half when she headed home a pin-point cross from Mary Fowler for her 68th goal from 127 internationals.
Foord notched her own hat-trick in the 56th minute when she danced around an opponent on the byline and nailed her shot from a tight angle.
The result thrust the Matildas to the top of Group A on six points, meaning all they need is a draw against Taiwan at HBF Park next Wednesday to guarantee progression to the final stage of qualification in February.
Even with a loss the Matildas would either top the group or at least qualify as the best runner-up from the three Asian confederation groups.
The only concern from Sunday's match was a suspected hamstring injury to substitute Cortnee Vine, who came off in the 75th minute just 10 minutes after coming on.
'They're going to assess her again in the morning,' Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said.
'It's too early to say if she's ruled for the last game, but with my experience, I think there's very little chance that she will be ready.'
The Matildas rested most of their biggest stars in Thursday's 2-0 win against Iran, but they wheeled out a full-strength outfit against the Philippines in a match that would effectively decide the group winner.
Kerr, Foord, Mackenzie Arnold, Steph Catley and Fowler were among the 10 changes, and it didn't take long for the floodgates to open.
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