Australia and China meet at AAMI Park in Melbourne, in what should be a competitive contest between two powerful international teams. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:30pm (AEDT).
The Matildas are coming off some excellent form against the visiting Brazilians a few months back and will look to keep the momentum.
The Chinese have won seven, drawn two and lost four in 2017, and currently sit at number 13 in the world rankings. The Matildas had their measure in the Algarve Cup earlier in the year, grinding out a 2-1 win after trailing at halftime.
This time around, the Australians go in as favourites on the back of their best ever position – sixth in the FIFA rankings – yet this game will be about more than just stats.
As two of the best teams in Asia and considering the growth of women’s football, chances are this pair will meet each other many times in future years. Dominance across the two friendlies would make a strong statement, particularly with a World Cup looming.
With the W-League season in full swing, the Australians will be fit and primed, and the depth in their squad will test the visitors.
Prediction
In a game where goals should be scored, the Matildas will prevail in a tight one.
Australia 2-1 China
Catch all the action on The Roar, live from 7:30pm (AEDT).
punter
Guest
Great player.
Post_hoc
Guest
Watching her after the game, all the smiles from the other girls, Kerr is walking around not content, looked like she was still had a game face on, still analyzing everything. She is rightfully labeled a freak, she will only get better.
Post_hoc
Guest
mines van Egmond
punter
Guest
Why is that a problem just for football & not other sports?
LuckyEddie
Guest
The big problem in football in Australia is the event goer. See a lot saw the Matildas play Brazil either live or on TV and well time to move onto another event. Womens Rugby sevens that we won an Olympic medal for is failing to draw are crowd. Womens cricket which gets as much publicity as HAL can hardly draw a crowd. Unfortunately in Australia there is this event mentality, rather than solid support. In Brisbane people will pay rip-off price to go to one State of Origin game but never go to an NRL game, same with Rugby etc. Look at football days after qualification crowds were down. I know a lot of so-called football people and of course members of the so-called football family who have been to about 4 Roar games in 10 years, Grand Finals and the Liverpool game. So in fact a lot are just event goers. So 10k was probably a good turn out.
jamesb
Guest
Crowds in Matildas last three home games. Brazil @ Penrith- 15,089 Brazil @ Newcastle - 16,829 China @ Melbourne - 10,904 Melbourne......the sporting capital.
DaniE
Roar Guru
Great stuff Stuart, thank you!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Thanks Tristan. Hope all is well.
jamesb
Guest
Deserved double. They are one of the best womens teams in the world. They are a chance for the world cup. They are in the mix with USA, Germany, England and a couple of others.
Tristan Rayner
Editor
Great post as always Griffo.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
10,904 for Matilda’s v China. very respectable
Griffo
Roar Guru
A great performance. We were aggressive in attack but we didn't give the Chinese much time with the ball when we turned it over - numerous times we got the ball back quickly and just went at them again. Some good passages where we tried to get through what was a double block of 4-4 lines close in defence - rarely did China have a three-player press, and were happy to let the Matildas come forward into the middle third in the hope of us turning it over and then a quick ball forward to a striker to catch us out. And Sam Kerr, a couple of good oportunites to perhaps have a hattrick tonight but she is scoring them with style and a brace was well deserved. That second goal should be front page news. Not knowing the story behind the Chinese team tonight but the Matildas are close to the top of their game right now and they have great depth in the squad. Can they get better and move further ahead? The harder work will be for the likes of Staj to keep bringing some young players into the squad who can grow and gain experience like Kerr, Foord, Van Egmond, so that in 4-6 years new stars have tremendous experience in their early to mid-20's, which we saw some elements of that tonight, and with Carpenter.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Well done Stuart, enjoy your very good articles too. We need more like you on this site.
Redondo
Guest
A stunning athlete...but excellent football from whole team
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Thanks for being on board for the blog tonight. The Matildas were far too good for the Chinese, putting on three goals and the visitors were nowhere near the standard of the home team. The Chinese will learn a lot from this game and be better in Geelong on the weekend, yet the Australians may even field a stronger team than the one they did tonight. Sam Kerr has once again established herself as one of the best players in the world with an astonishing performance and the Australian defence is becoming one of the best units in the world. A great game looms in Geelong on the weekend and the Matildas will look to extend their advantge over one of their Asian neighbors. Final Score Australia 3 China 0
Marc
Guest
Please don't Stuart. I luvs your work :-)
jamesb
Guest
Sam Kerr does Sam Kerr things
Stuart Thomas
Expert
FULL_TIME Australia 3 China 0
Stuart Thomas
Expert
94' The final minute Australia 3 China 0
Stuart Thomas
Expert
92' The best chance on goal for China as Campbell knocks the ball over the bar.