Matildas’ veteran Michelle Heyman scored a late show equaliser in a 1-1 draw with China in front of a record women’s football crowd at Adelaide Oval last night.
Heyman, 35, volleyed the ball home from point-blank range in the fifth minute of stoppage time after a howler from Chinese keeper Xu Huan forced a free kick on the edge of the box seconds before the final whistle.
Mary Fowler’s set piece ricocheted across the six-yard box before Heyman scored as the Matildas skyrocketed to become Australia’s favourite football team when 52,912 screaming fans turned up to watch a disjointed performance.
“We wanted to continue to have the never-say-die attitude,” Heyman told Paramount +.
“We needed to move the ball a bit quicker, it wasn’t our best performance.”
The reigning women’s AFC Asian Cup champion stunned the Matildas when the clash was 30 minutes old.
Zhang Linyan scored the opening goal with a neat volley from 6m from a brilliant Wurigumula assist from the wing after a battle for the ball with Australia’s Kaitlyn Torpey.
The goal deflated the Adelaide Oval vibe as the Chinese took its 1-0 advantage to the break after Australia’s formation continuously changed, which appeared to unsettle the home side.
China was the better side for the first 45 minutes and opened the second half super organised.
However, Matildas’ rising star Fowler, who started the clash on the left wing before shifting to midfield, had a super chance to equalise in the 56th minute but was thwarted by the brave gloves of Huan on the edge of the six-yard box.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson unleashed five trusted stars off the bench in one hit after the hour in a bid to salvage the clash with Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Ellie Carpenter and Kyra Cooney Cross adding speed, aggression and urgency to the line-up.
Raso had a claim for a spot kick in the 73rd minute after her heels appeared to be clipped inside the box, but referee Yujeong Kim wasn’t fazed by the Australian’s protest.
Records broken
The crowd almost eclipsed the 53,008 fans that saw Adelaide United’s men host English giant Liverpool in a 2015 friendly at the same venue.
Nearly 18 years ago, the Matildas faced China in the final of the AFC Asian Cup and drew an estimated 5000 fans to Hindmarsh Stadium which was lauded as a big crowd – at that time.
In 2019 a then-record crowd for a women’s football clash in SA saw 10,342 fans watch the Matildas beat Chile 1-0 at Hindmarsh.
Parisian days
With just 18 spots up for grabs for the Matildas’ Paris 2024 Games football squad, Gustavsson may need to look at his game plan before deciding who he should cut from this current squad of 23 players.
South Australia’s Charli Grant earned a start to prove her worth as Tuesday’s Olympic 18-person Olympic squad announcement nears.
Gustavsson said this week “roughly 14 or 15” spots in Australia’s Olympics squad were “locked in”,
With brilliant defender Carpenter starting from the bench after she played in last weekend’s UEFA Champions League final for French side Lyon, Grant performed admirably after making her debut for England’s Tottenham Hotspur this year but was forced to watch her teammate Linyan’s opening goal.
Grant ended her shift in the 62nd minute for Carpenter.
Ante’s Antics
Former Matildas boss Ante Milicic seemingly opted for a cautious approach early in his debut match on the bench for China.
His side initially refused to press as the Matildas continuously opted to work the ball from defence to attack that left the door open for counter-attacking football.
After the home side was lulled into that game plan, China forced a high press after 15 minutes which forced the Matildas to rethink Gustavsson’s strategy after Linyan scored on the half hour.
LIVE BLOG
Follow the action in our live blog below. If you can’t see the blog, click here.
Source Agencies
