Matildas snatch late goal to draw Olympic warm-up against China
The Matildas struggled for cohesion all night in their Olympics warm-up before a veteran popped up with a huge late goal.
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The Matildas have narrowly avoided a shock defeat in their Olympic warm-up clash with China at Adelaide Oval.
In front of a record crowd of 52,912, the Matildas were staring down the barrel when the visitors took a shock first-half lead through Zhang Linyan.
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.
It put the gloss on a tough night for the hugely popular Australian side, which suffered injuries to Caitlin Foord and Clare Hunt during the game.
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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.”
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 six metres 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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Chinese proved a fiercely stubborn opponent until Heyman bobbed up with the late equaliser and there was a mixed reaction on social media.
“Credit to Fowler…that kick into the box was a banger,” wrote one fan on X.
“That was a pretty rough game, hopefully Monday night will be a bit more exciting to watch!” another said looking forward to the second friendly with China.
“Did not deserve that draw. Really poor performance for the most part and shows why Tony doesn’t like switching his squads around. The fringe players today did nothing to suggest they should be on the plane to Paris,” added a third.
Originally published as Matildas snatch late goal to draw Olympic warm-up against China
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