Action from Korea Republic v Australia : AFC/STANLEY CHOU

KUALA LUMPUR: Australian coach Michael Mulvey is hoping his players can learn from the mistakes made against Korea Republic when they meet China in the final AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Group A match on Monday at the MPPJ Stadium.

Mulvey’s team were defeated 3-1 by the Koreans on Saturday and must beat China by three clear goals to advance to the semi-finals.

“We are very naïve defensively against the Koreans and I am hoping we can improve on that aspect of our play,” said Mulvey.

“Australia still have a long way to go in Asia compared to the big teams but I’m satisfied with the effort the girls have put in.”

When asked if Australia could beat China, Mulvey said: “Sure, if we can win 3-1, all three teams will have the same record.”

China also beat Korea Republic 3-1 in their first match.

Australia recently defeated China 2-1 in a tournament in Sydney but Mulvey refuses to consider that match as a reflection of the Chinese team’s true ability.

“They were without five players back then who are playing here. And if you saw the match against Korea, you would see that all five are key players,” he said.

China need only a draw to take themselves and Korea Republic through to the next round.

Coach Wang Hong, however, said the Chinese cannot take Australia lightly.

“We know about Australia because they beat us 2-1 recently,” said Wang. “We had a good win over Korea but now we have to regroup and play our best against the Australians.”

“We cannot afford to slow down because anything can happen.”

China played a measured game against the Koreans on Thursday. After taking a 3-0 lead by the 37th minute, China allowed Korea to pull a goal back before half-time.

However, they then packed their defence in order to combat Korea’s expected forward push and eventually held on for a comfortable victory.

Should Australia achieve an unlikely 3-0 win that they need, they will progress to the semi-finals along with Korea Republic.