Matildas fall agonisingly short of Asian Championship

The Australian Matildas have lost the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Final against China 4-2 on penalty kicks after scores were tied 2-2 at the conclusion of extra time at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium.

First half goals from striker Caitlin Munoz (moo-noz) and midfielder Joanne Peters appeared to have the Matildas on course for a first ever Asian championship following Australia’s move into the Asian Football Confederation on January 1 this year before China equalised with two quick second half goals.

The disappointment for the Australian side was tempered by qualification for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup which was achieved courtesy of the 2-0 semi final victory over Japan on Thursday.

Australia started nervously and China had strong claims for a penalty waved away in just the second minute when Xiaoxu Ma found space and burst into the penalty area. However Heather Garriock’s desperation tackle saved the day though goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri had to be alert and pounce on the ricochet which threatened to cross the line.

A little over ten minutes later Duan Han found space with only keeper to beat but Barbieri, who has only rarely been called into action during the entire tournament, produced an excellent save.

However Australia weathered the early pressure and soon found their form with livewire striker Sarah Walsh forcing goalkeeper to fumble the ball wide on the edge of the penalty area but Australia couldn’t get a shot in with the goal momentarily unattended.

Spurred on by a noisy crowd of over 5,000 spectators the Matildas then burst the game open with two goals in four minutes. Canberra-based Munoz opened the scoring on 28 minutes with a stunning a 30-metre thunderbolt that the Chinese goalkeeper could only fingertip onto the frame of the goal before crossing the line. In a tournament devoid of long-range goals, the 22-year-old’s strike was arguably the most spectacular of the 15-day event.

Miraculously Sally Shipard nearly repeated the dose minutes later only for Chinese goalkeeper Wenxia Han to this time produce an excellent diving save. The resultant corner produced the second goal with Collette McCallum playing in a perfect near-post ball that Joanne Peters flicked goalwards for her 23rd goal for Australia.

Soon after Shipard fed the ball to Peters whose first time effort from the edge of the penalty area swung narrowly the wrong side of the post with the goalkeeper watching on helplessly.

Seconds prior to the break China created their first opening since the early stages of the match with Yali Lui forcing Barbieri into a flying near post save.

The Matildas could have well and truly sealed the match just ten minutes after the break with Munoz knocked the ball onto Walsh who outsprinted the defence and laid the ball across the goal for McCallum who narrowly put the ball over the crossbar in attempting to lift the ball over the diving goalkeeper.

Barbieri was again forced into action with Xiaoxu Ma letting fly from distance before the match turned on it’s head within the space of five minutes.

On 68 minutes Han pulled a goal back with a perfect strike from 18 yards after a well worked move on the edge of the penalty area. It was the first goal Australia had conceded in the tournament in over 500 minutes of football in what was their sixth match in 15 days.

China then drew level just five minutes later through Ma with a near-post strike as the momentum of the match completely changed. China dominated the last 20 minutes but Australia was able to regroup at the end of 90 minutes and gave as good as they got during extra time despite both teams fatiguing badly.

Matildas coach Tom Sermanni forced into using all three substitutions prior to extra time with injury forcing off Dianne Alagich off late in the first half, as well as Rhian Davies on 82 minutes, while Munoz was also substituted having gone into the match under an injury cloud.

With less than two minutes left and penalties looming China brought on reserve goalkeeper Yanru Zhang for Wenxia Han clearly with the shootout in mind. Ultimately Zhang proved to be the difference producing two solid saves from McCallum and Peters with Shipard and Alicia Ferguson converting their spot kicks.

“If someone had of said to me two weeks ago that we would reach the final and take it to a penalty shout-out I would have grabbed it with both hands,” said Matildas coach Tom Sermanni.

“There were two great teams out there today.

“I am really proud of the efforts of my players and the fact that they never wavered. When the match went to 2-2 we could easily have folded but we hung in and played the game but unfortunately when it reaches penalties it is always a lottery.

“This team is by no means a finished product. We are a young side and largely inexperienced and still playing catch-up to some of the big teams in Asia but this is a great platform for us to build upon ahead of the World Cup next year.”

In the match for third place, DPR (North) Korea also qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 3-1 win over Japan who must now play-off against a CONCACAF representative late this year.