Matildas send ominous Olympics message with 2-0 defeat of China

The Matildas have bid farewell to their Australian fans with a dominant display as their focus turns to the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Watch out world, the Matildas mean business.

In their final hitout ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Aussies sent an ominous message to their rivals.

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Going up against China at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, the teams played out a hard fought opening half in front of 76,798 fans.

The second half was a completely different story.

Clare Wheeler was brought on to replace Emily Van Egmond and she made an immediate impact as she found the back of the net after only two minutes.

A free kick cross from Matildas skipper Steph Catley ended up on the head of Wheeler who timed her leap to perfection and dumped the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

Less than 10 minutes later the lead was doubled when Hayley Raso get in behind the Chinese defensive line thanks to a delightful through ball from Courtnee Vine.

Raso’s first touch put her through on goal and past the keeper as she slotted it casually in to gift the Aussies a 2-0 advantage.

Wheeler heads the opener home. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

After moving ahead 2-0, the Matildas didn’t relent on the pressure but attacking opportunities dried up as China threw more weight behind the ball.

In the end the Matildas waved farewell to the Australian faithful with a dominant second half display.

The 12th ranked Matildas are set to name their final squad for the Paris Olympics on Tuesday with the final hitout leaving coach Tony Gustavsson with plenty of headaches.

Five players will be let go from the current squad of 23 with only 18 players to board the plane bound for Paris.

Drawn in Group B for the Olympics, the Matildas will face the fourth ranked USA, the fifth ranked Germany and Zambia.

Raso drills the second. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The win came after the Matildas avoided disaster during their first clash against China last week in Adelaide.

After falling behind in the first half, the home side huffed and puffed without finding a breakthrough, until a Mary Fowler free-kick in the 95th minute rebounded to veteran Michelle Heyman, who stabbed in the equaliser.

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.

Fowler’s set piece ricocheted across the six-yard box before Heyman scored as the Matildas delighted their screaming fans, who had turned up to watch a disjointed performance.

“We wanted to continue to have the never-say-die attitude,” Heyman told Paramount Plus.

“We needed to move the ball a bit quicker, it wasn’t our best performance.”

Originally published as Matildas send ominous Olympics message with 2-0 defeat of China