Australia’s class and clinical edge yesterday proved overwhelming for Malawi’s Scorchers, who suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in their opening Fifa Series match at Nyayo National Stadium, in Nairobi, Kenya.
From the outset, the gulf in quality, underlined by Australia’s superior Fifa ranking on position 15 against Scorchers’ 153 was clear.
The Matildas controlled the tempo with sharp passing, intelligent movement and well-drilled positional play that kept Malawi on the back foot for long stretches.
Australia’s breakthrough came as early as the fifth minute through their most-capped player Emily van Egmond who reacted quickest to a swiftly taken free-kick to slot past the onrushing Scorchers goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo.
Malawi struggled to contain Australia’s width and attacking rotations and the Scorchers’ defensive frailties were exposed again in the 41st minute.
Caitlin Foord delivered a dangerous cross that the Scorchers failed to clear, allowing captain Sam Kerr of Chelsea Women’s Football club, to pounce and finish from close range.
Despite the dominance, Malawi nearly found a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when Rose Kabzere curled in a dangerous free-kick that was only partially cleared, falling kindly to Vanessa Chikupila.
However, Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold denied Chikupila with a superb point-blank save to preserve the two-goal cushion at half-time.
The second-half followed a similar pattern, with Australia maintaining control and Malawi struggling to break through their disciplined defensive structure.
On the hour mark, Alex Chidiac extended the lead with a well-taken low drive from just outside the box.
Australia’s dominance was capped late in the match when substitute Jamilla Rankin assisted Holly McNamara for the fourth goal in the 86th minute.
In a post-match interview, Scorchers coach Lovemore Fazili blamed the loss on “simple mistake”.
He said: “I have to be honest. The game was not really tough, but when you are playing against an experienced team, I think they get an advantage and capitalise on your mistakes. So, we made simple mistakes and we conceeded goals which we could have avoided.”
Fazili promised an improvement in the next fixture.
He said: “We have accepted this defeat, but we have learnt a lot from this game.
“We are going to do better. When we go back to training. We are going to rectify the problems.
There were simple problems that if we go back to training something is going to happen. Definitely next match you going to have positive results.”
Following the victory, Australia are through to the final and will face the winner between Kenya and India while Scorchers will face the losers in third place play off.
