Soccer Football - International Friendly - Women - Australia v Taiwan - AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia - December 4, 2024 Australia's Bryleeh Henry celebrates scoring their third goal Morgan Hancock/AAP Image via REUTERS
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Hopes for a sell-out crowd and a glut of goals did not quite materialise for Australia's Matildas on Wednesday as they laboured to a scrappy 3-1 win over Taiwan in a friendly in Melbourne.
Having thrilled a nation with their run to the Women's World Cup semi-finals on home soil last year, Australia will host the Women's Asian Cup in 2026 and on the strength of their night against 41st-ranked Taiwan, they have work ahead of them.
Fifteen months out from the continental showpiece, the Matildas lack a permanent coach, with Tom Sermanni guiding them on an interim basis after Tony Gustavsson's departure following their disastrous Paris Olympics campaign when they crashed out in the group stage.
Talismanic captain Sam Kerr has not played for club or country in a year and successive defeats by Brazil over the past week were a reality check for a team with ambitions of major silverware.
With attacking midfielder Mary Fowler on a wellbeing break and several senior players having returned to their clubs, Sermanni put minutes into younger legs, with Newcastle Jets defender Natasha Prior earning her second cap and Brisbane Roar forward Sharn Freier her eighth.
Both rewarded the coach with goals in a two-minute burst; Prior volleying home from close range in the 10th minute and Freier heading in after a rebound off the bar from a powerful Prior strike.
That was as good as it got for the Matildas for much of the night as they conceded a goal to Chen Jin-wen in the 34th minute with a sloppy defensive error and were frustrated in attack by a dogged Taiwanese defence.
Substitute Bryleeh Henry nodded in a quality header late on to improve the Matildas' score-line.
Dubbed "Australia's favourite sports team" after generating record crowds and screen viewership during the World Cup, the Matildas came into the Taiwan clash on a run of 16 successive sell-out crowds at home games.
The 26,795 in attendance was just short of a full house at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium but encouraging enough for governing body Football Australia which is banking on decent crowds for the Asian Cup.
Thousands of gold-clad fans will travel down the highway from Melbourne to Geelong to watch the Matildas take on Taiwan again at Kardinia Park on Saturday.
Selling out the 40,000-seat stadium in the sleepy port city might be a stretch but Geelong resident Kelly Young will be ready to do her bit after watching the Melbourne game.
"Yeah, can't wait," she told Reuters at the stadium.
"They’re entertaining to watch. They’re tough. They don’t take any crap."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
