The Australian Women's Soccer Team played out a nil-all draw against North Korea in the first match of their three-test series at Pyongyang's National Stadium this afternoon.
The eighth-ranked Australians struggled in the heat and humidity and were below their best early on in the game.
The enthusiastic crowd of 58,000 cheered on North Korea, who have already qualified for the 1999 World Cup as Asia's number two team. Fairly tall, very strong and physical, the host nation was fast, and technically good on the ball.
The Matildas improved their game once they had settled after the sluggish start, and played the ball around much more freely. North Korea pressured and won several freekicks around the goal area, but Australian goalkeeper Belinda Kitching was commanding in goal.
The disciplined North Korean side played the offside trap very well, catching out their opponents numerous times, an area where the Australians should have been smarter. Five fresh substitutions were brought on in the second half, the reason for the better second half according to National Coach Greg Brown. The use of players off the bench will continue with all twenty players to gain as much time on the pitch as possible as Australia prepares for the World Cup Qualifiers in October.
Coming closest to scoring for Australia was striker Katrina Boyd in the first period, and substitute Kim Revell after half-time. Best for Australia were sweeper Traci Barlett, midfielders Sarah Cooper and Cheryl Salisbury, and Kitching in goal.
Brown was very happy with the first-up performance, Australia's first match since last November's 2-1 win over Olympic silver medallists China.
The match marked captain Sonia Gegenhuber's 50th full international cap, placing her second on the all-time Australian records behind teammate Anissa Tann-Darby.
"Our biggest opponent was the heat," said Brown. "There were also some very dubious refereeing decisions which made things difficult. It was a good physical battle, and in the end it was great competition for us in very trying conditions and in front of a big crowd."
"North Korea is a really good side. I can see why they gave China a run for their money, and they'll be a force in the World Cup."
The Australians are confident of a better result in the second match on Tuesday, and Brown may consider making changes to the starting eleven. "We need to use the ball a lot better, and close their players down quicker," he said.
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