Goal-happy Matildas waltz into World Cup

The Australian women’s football team will head to the upcoming World Cup in Canada with an added dose of self-belief after an 11-0 trouncing of Vietnam.

Australia raced out of the blocks scoring eight goals inside the opening half-hour, including a remarkable six-goal haul within a nine-minute period at Kogarah Oval in Sydney’s south.

Striker Michelle Heyman netted a first-half hat-trick, while there were also doubles for Sam Kerr and Lisa De Vanna in her first match as captain.

Australia were physically and technically superior from the start against a side who they defeated 4-0 in a training match on Tuesday.

Matildas coach Alen Stajcic made five changes to his line-up against a Vietnamese outfit that only narrowly failed to qualify for the upcoming 24-nation World Cup in Canada.

The Matildas lost a little bit of momentum as the match wore on following a downpour late in the first half, and a string of second-half substitutions.

While Australia looked strong throughout they did profit on several occasions from poor handling by Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Thi Kieu Trinh.

There were just three second-half goals for the 4,277 crowd to cheer and only a single strike during the final half-hour via the boot of substitute Caitlin Foord.

The scoreline fell well shy of the Matildas record 21-0 scoreline achieved against American Samoa in 1998.

Stajcic was ecstatic with the result his team achieved as they prepare to depart for a World Cup where they have a real chance to go deep into the tournament.

“The first 25 minutes at the start was amazing, and I haven’t seen such a clinical display as that,” Stajcic said.

“When we played Vietnam 12 months ago we only won 2-0 and that shows how far we have come.
“There was a lot of good stuff but for us to be a top world class team we need to be more consistent over 90 minutes.

“We seemed to finish everything but I was more pleased with the passages of play that constructed some of the goals and I think that will work against anyone.”

The Matildas depart for Canada on Saturday where they will face a far greater task having been drawn against world No.1 USA, European powerhouse Sweden and African champions Nigeria.