Women’s Asian Cup: Matildas take on North Korea for spot in semifinal
The Matildas are missing two stars as their Asian Cup title hopes go on the line against North Korea in Perth. Follow all the action from Perth with our live blog.
Soccer: The Matildas are missing two stars as their Asian Cup title hopes go on the line against North Korea in Perth.
Hayley Raso and Steph Catley have both failed to overcome concussions in time for the quarterfinal clash.
However, hometown hero Sam Kerr has shown strong form and will hope to lead her side on to the semifinals next week.
Follow all the live action from Perth with our blog.
Aaron Kirby is reporting live.
Korea on top
The North Koreans are making the Matildas work.
Kyong Yong forced a strong save from Arnold with a header towards the bottom right corner that with a little more power would have seen the back of the net.
The Australians are tackling well but it feels like they are on the back foot at the moment.
They also lack a midfield connection to bring Kerr and Foord into the action.
AUS 1 - PRK 0 29’
Ouch!
Hunt has copped a boot to the head.
North Korea have put some seriously threatening balls into the box and the Matildas have just seen them off.
This time Hunt put her head on the line and copped a high boot for her troubles.
The Koreans are not messing around.
AUS 1 - PRK 0 23’
Bench stars
Raso and Catley may have been ruled out tonight but some air time on the big screen as drawn a huge cheer.
They both looked a little sheepish but Catley gave the fans a wave.
AUS 1 - PRK 0 16’
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!!!
Kennedy gets the Matildas on the board with a breathtaking strike from the edge of the box, but it all started with Kerr.
The long ball forward missed the mark but the WA girl went and won it back.
Her cross was also wayward but Kennedy got it back and moved the ball to her left foot before a perfect strike into the back of the net - just as she did during warm-ups.
A VAR check is quick and the goal stands!
AUS 1 - DRK 0 9’
First chance
North Korea creat the first scoring chance with a nice cross into the box from wide.
The striker gets her head to the ball but it sails well over the bar.
However, the Aussies were caught napping and Arnold hesitated.
AUS 0 - PRK 0 5’
Kick off
The North Koreans get us underway as the green and gold fans make their presence felt.
Can Australia get the job done?
Here we go!
The anthems are done and it’s down to business as we are moments from kickoff.
Australia start with;
Mackenzie Arnold
Winonah Heatly
Clare Hunt
Kaitlyn Torpey
Caitlin Foord
Emily Van-Egmond
Mary Fowler
Alanna Kennedy
Katrina Gorry
Sam Kerr
Ellie Carpenter
Warm-ups done
Both sides have completed their warm-ups and all looks well.
The Australians finished with some powerful one-on-one shots against the keepers while the North Koreans put some work into their set peices.
It could be a good ploy for the away team if they can slow things down throughout the game.
Filtering in
The fans are beginning to filter into the ground and there is a heavy green and gold flavour.
But there will be little pockets of North Korean support.
Two changes
The Australians have made two changes to the starting line-up.
Kaitlyn Torpey and Emily Van-Egmond will take to the field with Steph Catley and Claire Wheeler the two outs.
The Matildas will be hoping to score first becuase we could be in for a snooze-fest should the Koreans take the lead and attempt to park the bus.
