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The Matildas celebrate their goal against South Korea in Sydney, giving them a 1-0 win. Photo: Damien Briggs/Football Australia

The Matildas have emerged 1-0 victors against South Korea, playing in Sydney for the first time since the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

The result snapped a three-game losing streak for the Matildas, who went winless at the SheBelieves Cup during the February international window.

Interim coach Tom Sermanni said it was critical for the side to get the win, made even better by doing so with a clean sheet.

“I was really pleased with how the players went about the job. It’s no secret the SheBelieves wasn’t a great tournament for us for a whole variety of reasons,” Sermanni said.

“Then we’ve come in tonight and Hayley Raso’s been injured and Macca’s (Mackenzie Arnold) been injured and Ellie’s (Carpenter) been injured and we’re managing minutes with some of the other players, so when you put all of that together, I thought it was a really terrific effort from the team and more like how we want to play.”

The game itself was evenly contested, although Australia had more of the ball in the attacking thirds of the pitch, generating more than double the shots over South Korea (13 to 6), but both sides generating three on target.

Sermanni noted that he felt the performance was more reflective of how the side wants to play, nothing that they have been starting on the back foot in the last two windows, forcing them to chase the game.

A crucial player to the Aussies keeping a clean sheet was Teagan Micah, who started in goals, in part because of Mackenzie Arnold’s injury mid-week in camp.

Micah came up with a crucial save to deny South Korea an equaliser in the later stages of the clash, maintaining a clean sheet in the process.

The Liverpool goalkeeper, along with several other Matildas, have struggled for game time since returning to their WSL clubs, with Raso even going as far as removing all references to the fact she is a Spurs player from her social media.

Micah stressed how important it was for her and her team-mates to be able to come into a Matildas camp and get the minutes they are not receiving in club-land, with clubs being able to use that as a reason to limit match minutes.

“It is really hard going back to Europe and that’s the downfall of playing for Australia and all this travel that we do,” Micah said.

“For us to get minutes in the tank, but also to come together as a group, it’s so important, especially with the lead-up to the Asian Cup.”

The Matildas will conclude the April international window against South Korea on Monday April 7 in Newcastle.

Listen to the latest episode of The Dubcast, Round Ball Australia’s Women’s Football podcast on Spotify, Apple, or watch on YouTube, with new episodes every Wednesday.

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