Matildas 8 v Chinese Taipei 1

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Qantas Matildas midfielder Joanne Peters has become just the third Australian footballer to reach a century of national team appearances marking the occasion with a goal in Australia’s 8-1 victory over Chinese Taipei in their qualification match for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Chungshan Stadium, Chinese Taipei tonight.

The Leeton born, Newcastle resident sits behind only current captain Cheryl Salisbury (127 appearances) and Anissa Tann (102 appearances) on the honour board of male and female Australian footballers.

Defender Heather Garriock with 86 appearances is the next current player likely to reach the century mark.

The most capped Socceroo is Alex Tobin who made 87 appearances, while Brett Emerton sits highest amongst current players with 55 appearances.

Peters capped a memorable night by scoring in the 72nd minute with a well-struck shot from the edge of the penalty area, taking her tally to 24 goals, second only to Salisbury’s 30 goals for Australia.

Striker Kate Gill ensured it was a good night for the Novocastrians grabbing an astonishing five-goal haul including four goals prior to half time.

Fellow striker Sarah Walsh scored her fourth goal in the three qualification matches played this week while there were also second half strikes for Peters and substitute Danielle Small.

Gill could have scored a sixth but was denied by the post, as was Joanne Burgess with a header.

“I’m quite pleased with the performance with all the players maintaining their focus and intensity despite the lop-sided nature of the match,â€￾ says Qantas Matildas coach Tom Sermanni.

“We have now laid a good foundation for the commencement of the next stage of qualifying in April, though we still have a little bit of work to do in order to bring us to the level that we were at for last year’s World Cup qualifiers.â€￾

The Qantas Matildas win ensures top place in the four-team preliminary Olympic qualifying group following wins earlier in the week over Myanmar and Uzbekistan.

Australia will now move into the second and final stage of qualifying which will commence in April. Two groups of four will compete for just two qualifying berths with the Qantas Matildas drawn alongside Asia’s top team, DPR Korea, as well as Chinese Taipei, plus one of Korea Republic, India or Hong Kong.

The Qantas Matildas have already qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup also to be held in China, September 10-30.

AUSTRALIA 8 (Kate Gill 14’, 26’, 44’, 49’, 90’, Sarah Walsh, 29’, Joanne Peters 72’, Danielle Small 83’)

CHINESE TAIPEI 1 (Pei-Wen Tzai 35’)

Australian line-up

Melissa Barbieri (gk); Di Alagich, Cheryl Salisbury (c), Kate McShea (Thea Slatyer h/t), Heather Garriock; Collette McCallum, Joanne Peters, Joanne Burgess; Kate Gill, Sarah Walsh (Lana Harch 76’), Caitlin Munoz (Danielle Small 69’)

Cautions: Peters 68’

The Qantas Matildas squad for Stage 1 of the AFC Olympic Qualifying tournament in Chinese Taipei, February 21-25 is:

Goalkeepers – Melissa Barbieri (Melbourne), Emma Wirkus (Adelaide)

Defenders – Di Alagich (Sydney), Rhian Davies (Sydney), Heather Garriock (Sydney), Kate McShea (Brisbane), Clare Polkinghorne (Brisbane), Karla Reuter (Newcastle), Cheryl Salisbury (Newcastle), Thea Slatyer (Sydney)

Midfielders – Joanne Burgess (Sydney), Lauren Colthorpe (Newcastle), Lana Harch (Brisbane), Collette McCallum (Perth), Joanne Peters (Newcastle), Danielle Small (Sydney)

Forwards – Kate Gill (Newcastle), Sasha McDonnell (Brisbane), Caitlin Munoz (Canberra), Sarah Walsh (Sydney)

(* current home city)