By Kieran Yap 7/3/24

Above: The Australian U20’s. Photo: Tiff Williams/Football Australia

Australia sit on top of group A after beating a determined and defensive Uzbekistan

The Young Matildas have won their second group game in the Under 20 Asian Cup with a 2-0 result against Uzbekistan. First half goals to Daniela Galic and Peta Trimis were enough to see them end the day at the top of the table and in prime position to qualify for the World Cup.

Conditions looked far more favourable than the first game, after grinding out an admirable win against South Korea in inches of snow, Australia faced the tournament hosts. A win would all but guarantee progression to the next rounds and Leah Blayney put out a starting XI that would likely beat most full strength A-League Women sides. Lara Gooch and Alana Murphy came into the lineup after impressing off the bench in game one. Murphy partnered Shay Hollman in the middle of the park with Galic sitting further ahead.

Australia dominated the early exchanges and with Trimis and captain Jessika Nash creating space on the right flank to dangerous effect. Trimis’s darting movement and combination passing opened up the deep-sitting Uzbekistan defence and her incisive pass found the feet of Galic in a crowded penalty area. The Australia number 10 turned smoothly on the ball and produced a trademark shuffle of her feet to make room for the shot and left the keeper with no chance. Five minutes had passed.

Galic was a menace throughout. She would drop deep or shift wide for most of the match in an effort to test the packed defence. Whenever she was facing goal she looked dangerous and the team was set up to make that happen as often as possible. Trimis was also proving a difficult player to contain. Her ability to cut into midfield from the flank opens up space for the attackers ahead of her and the overlapping fullback outside. In the absence of injured Under 20 star Emilia Murray, her emergence at this level has been very important.

The Central Coast youngster scored her second goal of the tournament with a cooly taken finish in the 38^th minute. She brushed off the last defender, cut across the box to open up the angle and slotted it past the Uzbekistan goalkeeper. Once again her movement matched her pace, and her composure looked beyond her years.

Despite chasing the game and needing a result, Uzbekistan still sat back. At the time of playing, they could still theoretically advance in the tournament with a win against South Korea on Saturday, and looked to be in damage control as they faced wave after wave of Australian attack. Hollman was dominant in the centre of the pitch, and between cutting off counter attacks and moving the ball forward herself she earned Player of The Match plaudits.

By the time Galic was subbed off in the second half, she should easily have had four goals but was either wasteful in close or had her efforts matched by the goalkeeper. The Melbourne City star looked slightly frustrated with herself as she was rested for the final game. May God have mercy on the souls of whoever she faces next.

With the opposition pushed back and the game under control, Blayney looked to her bench to inject some fresh energy into the attack. Tottenham’s Milly Broughton came on and her pace continued to torment Uzbekistan. Tijan Mckenna entered the field in place of Nash, and showed some good composure on the ball and flexed her versatility as she would occasionally switch flanks with the typically busy Sasha Grove.

In the backline, Chloe Lincoln had a much quieter game than in the opening fixture. Naomi Chinnama and Alexia Apostolakis were solid at the back and dealt with some well delivered set pieces comfortably. Chinnama finished the game with the captain’s armband in a nice moment for a player who has been a fixture in this side through qualification.

While the 2-0 scoreline is scant reward for the complete domination. Uzbekistan were sitting deep for most of the match in a successful effort to control goal difference. The Young Matildas will likely feel like they could have had more to celebrate, but from a development perspective this win was hugely encouraging.

Both the Socceroo and Matildas have traditionally struggled against packed Asian defences. The Young Matildas demonstrated numerous ways to cut through the traffic. They attemped crosses from deep, driving to and along the byline, long range shots and using quick passing combinations centrally. They found different solutions within the game, and although Uzbekistan had fortified their penalty area, they were never allowed to settle.

Pacy forward Lara Gooch was delighted to start the match, her first opportunity to do so as a Young Matilda, but was already looking for ways to improve after the win.

“The match was good to get the three points,” she told the media.

”But we have a lot of things to take from that game to build on in the next game and the rest of the tournament.

“We didn’t get as many goals as we wanted to, but we take the positive that we got the three points.”

Although Australia could not add to the first half tally, the attacking intention did not change, even as fatigue crept in. Gooch said this was something to feel positive about.

“I think we tried to keep playing even when the game was slowing down, we kept tried to amp it up and play our own game. that’s a positive to take out but its just those final executions that we weren’t able to put away.”

Shay Hollman was similarly delighted with the win and her first start. The Player of the Match award was the icing on the cake, but Australia remain determined to finish off the group stage with another win.

“It was my first start in this tournament tonight so I was really excited by that opportunity,” said Hollman.

“But overall, I’m stoked that the girls were able to get the three points. We put a really good shift in.

“Obviously in the first half we had way more energy and were looking pretty e threatening.

“Second half, we may have come out with not quite as much energy and that’s obviously something we will work on going into next game.

“I think it’s really important that we step up in that second half because it’s a 90 minute game and we want to get more goals in.

“We’re all really happy. We came here to qualify for the U20 World Cup and we’re on the right track for that at the moment. We’ll keep training hard and put in another big shift next game.”

“They were a great team, they made it really hard for us, they fought hard in challenges. Our main thing was we had a lot of possession in the ball so our chances were bound to come and we took them.

The result means that a draw against Chinese Taipei will be enough to mathematically qualify for the semi finals and the World Cup, but Blayney’s team has been nothing if not ruthless and tireless in their attacking displays from the first qualifier to this important win. Expect them to try and make certain of it at 1pm on Saturday AEST.