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| AFC Women’s Asian Cup |
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| Sermanni joy as Matildas march on |
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| Australia finished 4th place recently in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2008 |
HO CHI MINH CITY - Australia coach Tom Sermanni was delighted to see his side achieve their initial goal of reaching the semi-finals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup.
The Matildas earned their place in the last four despite suffering a 3-1 defeat to Japan in their final Group B game after winning their previous two matches against Chinese Taipei and Korea Republic.
The victory for the Japanese meant they too earned a place in the knockout stages with Korea Republic losing out due to goal difference.
Australia looked somewhat lethargic compared to their previous two performances as Japan raced into a two-goal lead thanks to Kozue Ando, Yuki
Nagasato and Aya Miyama.
Clare Polkinghorne reduced the deficit when she fired home from a corner in the 70th minute.
But when word filtered through that Korea Republic had managed just a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei, both sides chose to simply wind down the clock rather than attack with their place in the semi-finals assured.
"I am delighted to have qualified," said Sermanni.
"We came here with a very inexperienced team and with numerous changes to our World Cup team and we are currently in the process of rebuilding.
"We had two very good teams in this group in South Korea and Japan so our main aim was to try and qualify for the next stage.
"We knew it was going to be difficult tonight but, although we lost, one thing I am delighted about is that our strongest team played two days ago while Japan's played four days ago.
"Therefore given all the circumstances I am delighted we came through the test that we did tonight."
Australia will meet Korea DPR in the semi-finals on June 5 as they look to go one better than their runner-up finish in the 2006 Asian Cup.
Japan coach Norio Sasaki, meanwhile, praised his side's dominant display against Australia admitting it was the result of months of hard training.
"We had to get two goals so we had nothing to lose," he said.
"Since February - when we started training - we have been working hard on developing how we will play against western teams and this was a result of the training our players have done.
"They did very well."
Of concern for Sasaki though, was the manner in which Australia snatched a goal back and he stressed his side will be working hard on defending from corners before their semi-final with China.
"As head coach of Japan it is pleasing we now have a further chance to develop," he said.
"We have possibly two more games in the Asian Cup and it will be a good experience for our players.
"Corners have been a big issue for Japan for a long time and we have to work hard on defending against them for future games."
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