Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Edmonton: Head coach Alen Stajcic was magnanimous in defeat as Australia bowed out of the FIFA Women’s World Cup at the quarter-final stage for the third successive tournament as the Matildas went down 1-0 to defending champions Japan on Saturday.
Looking to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time as well as to avenge their 1-0 defeat to the Japanese in the final of the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, Australia struggled to impose their game plan on reigning World and Asian champions.
“Clearly the better team won, even though I thought it evened out a bit after the first 20 minutes,” said Stajcic after seeing his side go down to Mana Iwabuchi’s 87th minute strike.
On in the 72nd minute to replace Shinobu Ohno, Bayern Munich striker Iwabuchi fired home from close range after the Matildas had failed to deal with corner kick, which had been won after keeper Lydia Williams had kept out a shot from Azusa Iwashimizu, who scored the winning goal when the two sides contested the 2014 AFC Asian Cup final in Vietnam.
The goal was perhaps no less than Japan deserved with the Nadeshiko dominating possession and chances in Saturday’s all-Asian encounter, with Ohno twice almost opened the scoring in the first-half before Japan came close to breaking the deadlock after the interval through skipper Aya Miyama’s audacious flick and a Yuki Ogimi volley.
“Japan were a lot more composed over the full 90 minutes. We didn’t set out to play any differently, but we just spent a lot of energy in the first 20 minutes chasing the game.
“Most of our players are young, and it is a heartbreaking moment for them, but sometimes you learn from these experiences. We don’t want to compete with the best, we want to beat the best, so now it is a case of taking further steps. There is a lot of room for growth moving forward.”
Photo: FIFA/Getty Images