Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord each scored hat-tricks as the Matildas ran riot at Optus Stadium on Sunday to take another step towards qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games.
Fielding their strongest 11 after resting a host of stars in last Thursday night’s lacklustre 2-0 defeat of Iran, the Matildas flexed their considerable muscle in thrashing the Philippines 8-0 in front of almost 60,000 delirious fans.
Coached by Western United’s A-League women’s team mentor Mark Torcaso, the Filipino outfit had been expected to provide the Matildas with their toughest test in the second round of AFC qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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But once Mary Fowler gave Australia the lead in the 15th minute, Torcaso’s team crumbled.
It was 5-0 at half-time, with Chelsea star Kerr and Arsenal attacker Foord each netting a first-half brace.
The Philippines didn’t have a shot before half-time, with the Matildas having 14.
Any hopes of a miraculous comeback from the south-east Asian nation were quashed only minute into the second half when Kerr scored her 68th international goal to complete her hat-trick after being fed by creative genius Fowler.
Foord wasn’t to be outdone, scoring her third goal in the 56th minute to increase the Matildas’ lead to 7-0.
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With the job well and truly completed, Kerr was replaced in the 65th minute, as coach Tony Gustavsson kept good with his promise to manage the skipper’s game time and not play her for an entire match in any of Australia’s three Group A matches, which include Wednesday’s battle with Taiwan at HBF Park.
Despite Kerr having gone off, the Matildas weren’t finished scoring, with substitute Clare Wheeler netting Australia’s eight goal – and her first at senior level for her nation – with a cracking long-distance strike in the 72nd minute.
The win moved the Matildas to six points from two games, while the Philippines remained on three points, having beaten Chinese Taipei 4-1 last Thursday night.
The winners of each of the three AFC second-round qualifying groups, as well as the second-placed team with the best record, will move forward to February’s third-round of qualifiers, where two sets of home and away contests will determine the two AFC nations that compete in the women’s football tournament at next year’s Olympics.
The only sour note of the night for the Matildas was a hamstring injury suffered by substitute Cortnee Vine.
Having only been on the field for 10 minutes after coming on as a second-half replacement, the Sydney FC star was forced off and replaced by Alex Chidiac.
2023-10-29 08:30:04
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