Matildas lose to Japan

Post by **admin** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:02 am

The Qantas Matildas have suffered a 1-0 loss to Japan in their final international match for 2006 played today at the Fukuda-Denshi Arena in Tokyo.

A goal six minutes into the second half from Yuki Nagasato was all that separated the teams in a match played in extremely wet conditions.

The match was a free-flowing contest despite the soaked pitch, with a number of goalscoring opportunities at either end.

The Qantas Matildas appeared likely to take the lead after 17 minutes when Rhian Davies cross was headed onto the crossbar by Caitlin Munoz, with Sarah Walshâ€™s follow up attempt also striking the crossbar.

There were further goalscoring opportunities for Joanne Peters and captain Cheryl Salisbury before the interval however both attempts flew over the goal.

Japan broke the deadlock when Shinobu Ohno broke down the right flank and provided a ball for Nagasato who slotted a low shot from 15 metres past substitute goalkeeper Emma Wirkus.

Young striker Sasha McDonnell appeared likely to score on debut but her header from a Heather Garriock cross was well saved by the Japanese goalkeeper.

At the other end Wirkus also impressed with a spectacular save from a long range effort late in the match to deny Japan.

â€œIâ€™m quite pleased with the performance of the team especially considering the timing of the match and the relative build-up of the two teams,â€ said Qantas Matildas coach Tom Sermanni.

â€œWe possibly had the better of the goalscoring opportunities, certainly in the first half, and we again will take a number of positives from the match.

â€œJapan are building for a very important month ahead while our focus since July has been a little more experimental ahead of the commencement of our Olympic qualifying campaign in February.â€

The Qantas Matildas last met Japan in the semi final of Julyâ€™s AFC Womenâ€™s Asian Cup in Adelaide with Australiaâ€™s 2-0 win ensuring qualification for the 2007 FIFA Womenâ€™s World Cup.

Japan, who finished fourth at the tournament, will shortly participate in the 2006 Asian Games and next month will play-off against the third-ranked CONCACAF nation, with the winner to qualify for the 2007 FIFA Womenâ€™s World Cup.

The Qantas Matildas will commence their 2008 Olympic qualifying campaign in February with Australia drawn alongside Chinese Taipei, Myanmar and Uzbekistan in the first stage of qualifying. Should they finish top two in the group the team will progress to the final stage of qualifying and another four team group where DPR Korea await as a seeded team. The final stage of qualifying will be held between April and August with only the top team to progress to the 2008 Olympic Games.

The 2007 FIFA Womenâ€™s World Cup is scheduled for September 10-30 in China.

Match Statistics:-

Japan 1 (Yuki Nagasato 51â€™)

Australia 0

Australian line-up:
Melissa Barbieri (Emma Wirkus h/t), Rhian Davies (Amber Neilson 75â€™), Kate McShea, Cheryl Salisbury (c), Heather Garriock; Lauren Colthorpe, Collette McCallum (Kim Carroll 75â€™), Joanne Peters, Joanne Burgess (Sasha McDonnell 56â€™); Sarah Walsh (Karla Reuter 85â€™), Caitlin Munoz.

Cautions: Peters 65â€™,

Referee: Junxia Deng (China)

Official crowd: 4,093

gubs · Post by **gubs** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:23 am

w00t! well in Emma!!!

billy the kid · Post by **billy the kid** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:55 am

Are we still convinced that things are ok in oz with women's football?

gubs · Post by **gubs** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:08 pm

define ok

BillShankly · Post by **BillShankly** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:23 pm

internationally or locally?

gubs · Post by **gubs** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:33 pm

lol billy the kid u have opened up a can of worms

gamst · Post by **gamst** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:54 pm

irony much?

BillShankly · Post by **BillShankly** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:56 pm

Internationally i think the matildas are doing well at the moment and hopefully the younger players coming through can help take them to the next level.

shorty · Post by **shorty** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:44 pm

wow.. billy the kid.. mate u are barking up tha wrong tree haha

KrAzY · Post by **KrAzY** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:04 am

Back to the topic at hand... how gun is emma ..lol reppin it for the SA kids in style yewwwww-- i taught her how to make long range saves..well ..watched her do it ..its all the same! hahaha!

gubs · Post by **gubs** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:12 am

hahaha yeh lol hey leps. we watch her do it at training, try n do the same but fail miserably. all credit to emma tho, shes worked damn hard to get where she is today n deserves all the success that comes her way. Nice person n great person to train with aswell...

Gotta agree Leps, she is a dear isnt she our Em

KrAzY · Post by **KrAzY** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:15 am

Definately 100% agree with everything you said!

Emma Wirkus - Great role model!

haha saved my life once..i had a fly stuck in my eye at training ..she helped me out.. I mite still hav that fly in my eye had she not offered a helping hand! ..Touching i know ...hahahah

Seriously tho!
Top shelf person and keeper!

BillShankly · Post by **BillShankly** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:21 am

KrAzY wrote:Definately 100% agree with everything you said!

Emma Wirkus - Great role model!

haha saved my life once..i had a fly stuck in my eye at training ..she helped me out.. I mite still hav that fly in my eye had she not offered a helping hand! ..Touching i know ...hahahah

Seriously tho!
Top shelf person and keeper!

hope your eternally greatful!

KrAzY · Post by **KrAzY** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:22 am

most definately! ..could have been the end of my career! haha

courtz · Post by **courtz** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:24 am

emma is ace tbh!!!!!!!!!

SAD GAL · Post by **SAD GAL** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:56 am

Well done Emma

What has her form at recent Internationals/Peace cup, etc been like of late? Will she take over the mantle of #1 GK from Barbieri?

gubs · Post by **gubs** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:17 am

barbieri has experience over her. I think Emma's last few appearances have been good enough to keep her there. experience is crucial with keepers, shes going the right way about it to overtake barbieri. shes in the mix and she works hard so hopefully shes well on the way to overtaking her

billy the kid · Post by **billy the kid** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 3:09 pm

From the Peace Cup games and this latest one, who had the best "clean sheet"?

gubs · Post by **gubs** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 3:20 pm

errr i duno....

shorty · Post by **shorty** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 5:03 pm

emma is tha best...

not just emma, but all our goalkeepers (leps/gubs) they are tha best and train harder than any other onfield player iv met.. they are tha best g.k's eva...

and im not sucking up to them.. they know that i think they rock my socks!!!

deyy · Post by **deyy** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:22 pm

*cough cough* suck up *cough cough*... haha jst jks..

beaches · Post by **beaches** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:50 am

Wonder what the Temp. was in Japan. Emma would handle the cold better than most. Anyone who has played against Stirling Districts at Bradbury in the middle of winter would know what I am talking about.

SAD GAL · Post by **SAD GAL** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:58 am

As Paulie (consumer watchdog) from Ronnie Johns Half hour would say, Put a sticker on it. A suggested sticker for your post Shorty is:

"Our GK's work harder than me!" LOL. I'm only being seeeereeeeous!

shorty wrote:emma is tha best...

not just emma, but all our goalkeepers (leps/gubs) they are tha best and train harder than any other onfield player iv met.. they are tha best g.k's eva...

and im not sucking up to them.. they know that i think they rock my socks!!!

shorty · Post by **shorty** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 11:20 am

umm everyone works harder than me atm sad gal!!... coz i aint trainin darl!!!

deyy : i aint sucking up they r my fave!! hence why i wanted to get close to them i even broke my leg so i cld get out of tha forward line then it just went downhill from thereand i ended up in defence LOL