Matildas lose their rhythm in Tianjin

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Matildas lose their rhythm in Tianjin



The Australian women's football team, the Matildas, were defeated 0-5 by Olympic Games hosts China, in Tianjin overnight.



China, which is aiming to be amongst the medallists in the Olympic Games women's football competition on their home turf, took the lead in the 7th minute when Han Duan struck low and hard from the edge of the box against the run of play.



Zhang Ying doubled China’s lead in the 22nd minute with a well taken volley after Han Duan had made a break down the right and supplied a pin-point cross.



Shortly after the break China extended their lead when the Chinese Captain Li Jie converted a penalty following an obvious infringement in the box.



Soon after the hour mark, Matildas captain Kate McShea had an attempt from the edge of the box but the Chinese keeper was able to block the shot to deny Australia a goal. Shortly after, Kyah Simon came close to scoring, but her shot hit the post and bounced out.



Xu Yuan added China’s fourth goal with 10 minutes remaining after pouncing on a mis-cleared ball and followed up with a strike from the right edge of the box. Yuan then claimed her second goal of the evening with a solid shot in the 87th minute to seal a 5-0 victory.



Matildas coach Tom Sermanni was disappointed with the result.



“The result highlighted the fact we're just not a cohesive unit at this point in time. It also highlighted the different stages for both teams,” said Sermanni after the match.



"China is deep in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, and we are not and a number of our more experienced players did not travel on this short trip.



“Our inexperience was also highlighted by the inconsistency in our performances, we had a good game the other night but could not back it up tonight.



“Having said that, I was extremely disappointed with some of the errors we made; errors you wouldn't expect from even a much younger side. I was also extremely disappointed in our limited mental toughness and concentration. This is probably the weakest we have performed in these two areas.



“We have to regroup now and start preparing for Saturday’s match against New Zealand,” concluded Sermanni.



The Matildas now return to Australia to face the New Zealand 's 'Football Ferns' on Saturday (12 July 2008) at North Sydney Oval (Kick-Off 12:00pm AEST) in what will be Di Alagich's final international match.




Match Details

China PR 5 (Han Duan 7’, Zhang Ying 22’, Li Jie 48’ (pen), Xu Yuan 80’/87’)

Australia 0

Wednesday 9 July 2008

Tianjin Olympic Stadium Auxiliary Field, Tianjin, China

Crowd: 1000



Australia line-up: 1.Melissa Barbieri (gk), 2.Kate McShea (Captain), 3.Karla Reuter (24. Servet Uzunlar 62’), 6.Amber Neilson (22. Ellen Beaumont 62’), 8.Caitlin Munoz, 13.Amy Chapman (5.Renee Rollason 81’), 14.Clare Polkinghorne (10.Leena Khamis 81’), 16.Lauren Colthorpe, 17.Kyah Simon, 19.Kim Carroll (25. Brooke Spence 62’), 20.Joanne Burgess (15.Victoria Balomenos 81’).



Substitutes Not Used: 18.Lydia Williams (gk).



Next Fixture:

Matildas v New Zealand

Saturday 12 July 2008 (Kick-Off Time 12:00pm)

North Sydney Oval, North Sydney, NSW, Australia

[Judge Judy]

5-0 a spanking