AUCKLAND (11 Feb 2015) – Matildas coach Alen Stajcic was pleased with his players as AFC Women’s Asian Cup runners-up Australia began their build up for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in earnest with a 2-1 defeat of DPR Korea.
The Matildas, playing in their first match since going down 1-0 to defending champions Japan in the continental final in Vietnam last May, took an early lead in Monday’s friendly match at the Billy McKinlay Park through an 11th minute opener from Brisbane Roar defender Clare Polkinghorne, who spent the 2014 season with Japan’s INAC Kobe Leonessa.
The North Koreans, coming into the game off the back off a 1-1 draw with New Zealand, drew level three minutes later courtesy of Kim Yun-mi only for Michelle Heyman to restore Australia’s lead eight minutes before the break with what transpired to be the final goal of the game.
“It was our first game in eight months and I sort of expected we’d be under a fair bit of pressure but the players just responded so well,” Stajcic said to the Western Australian.
“To come up against world-class opponents and grind it out like we did showed tremendous resilience.”
The Matildas are next in action on Thursday when they take on fellow FIFA World Cup qualifiers New Zealand before heading to Europe to continue their preparations for Canada 2015 at the Cyprus Cup in March, where they have group stage games against England, Finland and the Netherlands.
Australia are Group D at the seventh edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and will kick-off their campaign against two-time champions USA in Winnipeg on June 8.
