‘Breathtaking’: Aussie golden girl’s screamer stuns as Matildas take crucial step
The Matildas overcame a frustrating first half to finally get the better of a stubborn Chinese Taipei in Wednesday night’s Olympic Games qualifier in Perth.
After wasting a host of chances in the opening 45 minutes, the Matildas showed their more clinical side after the break to secure a 3-0 win and seal a perfect Asian Football Confederation Group A second-round qualifying record of nine points from three games.
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Star pair Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr, as well as veteran substitute Tameka Yallop, all scored in the final 30 minutes of the contest to send a crowd of more than 19,000 home from HBF Park in a happy mood.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson praised the “maturity” shown by his side.
“It takes sometimes an hour to break down a team,” Gustavsson told Network 10.
“With patience, then it starts to open up.”
Having topped their group, the Matilda now progress to the final round of AFC Olympic Games qualifiers in February.
Four nations will contest the February qualifiers, with the two winners of parallel home and away battles to progress to next year’s Paris Games.
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Apart from Australia, Japan and North Korea have also sealed spots in the final round of qualifiers, with the fourth nation to be the best runner-up from the three second-round qualifying groups.
The Matildas made
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