CEO Heather Reid on that famous night.

Greetings again now from Hangzhou where it's overcast but hot today.



Sunday
After an outstanding performance last night at the wonderful Dragon Stadium, the Matildas are now on their way to Chengdu for the final game in the preliminary rounds of the WWC - and they're sitting on top of Group C. No doubt there are some exhausted and battered players this morning after their tough and nail-biting draw against the former world champions and 2000 Olympic gold medallists, Norway. Alicia Ferguson for one is sporting a black eye for her battles against the Viking midfielders!

Before the match yesterday, I caught up with Andy Munoz and some of the other family supporters for a drink and dinner. Andy had the scoop on possible changes for the Matildas line-up - suggesting there could be six new players injected into the game. There was no thinking that Sermanni might be taking a huge risk - quite the contrary when we discussed the great depth and versatility he's got within the squad. And then there's the speed factor with De Vanna likely to be another 'impact' player alongside Walsh at some stage in the game. \i'm sure Andy was also hoping Caitlin would be the third sub and he'd see her in her second international game.

As our group of about 20 of us travelled on the bus to the game on a madly chaotic Saturday evening, I encouraged the Aussies to get the Chinese fans to not only do the "oi oi oi" thing but also yell for "ao da li ya" (Australia!). They thought I was a bit mad but agreed to give it a go.

When we arrived at the stadium we heard that Canada had beaten Ghana 4-0 and we knew that the final placings in our group, like the other groups, will go down to the wire. There was great optimism and confidence shown by the parents and Andy said the players were up for the challenge and the new players wouldn't let us down.

I headed to the media centre to collect the starting list and to see what other news there was from the other groups. The Kiwis had been beaten by Denmark which means the Dane's hopes of a quarter final are still alive by NZ will be heading home after their next game v China. Brazil is also in that group and they demolished the local favourites, 4-0 to let everyone know they want to be the world champions. This is a key group for Australia because the winner of D plays the runner up of our group C and the runner up of D plays the winner of C in the quarters - Brazil, China or Denmark all in our longer term sights,

Returning to the Norway game again ...

As you no doubt saw, Sermanni made six changes to the starting line-up. This was mainly to bring extra height and strength to the attack as well as rest a couple of players for the next important game v Canada on Wednesday. He also kept De VAnna and Walsh on the bench.

When I joined the Matildas family group in the stadium, there was another group of Aussie fans, led by Bess from SA and her friends from Hong Kong. Kerry Harris from Canberra also in our area. They'd come prepared with new signs saying 'bonza' and 'noice' as well as other paraphernalia to gee up the crowd. I then started the "ao da li ya" thing and it worked ! Raenne Dower and the Qld women's open squad was on the other side of the stadium doing their bit to get the crowd motivated to support the Aussies too.

Yes, we were stunned when Gulbrandsen scored but we were also amazed that there was no free kick against whoever flattened Thea Slatyer in the process! 1-0 to Norway in the 5th minute. An SMS from a friend in Canberra simply said "bugger" and she was right.

The Matildas kept their cool and nearly replied with goals through some great midfield work by Garriock and McCallum. Too many simple controlling errors and not enough tight defence gave us more frightening moments but at the other end of the field the Matildas created chances to score - including a great chance in the 19th minute when Small nearly punished the Vikings for a poor defensive header.

Reasonably content with 1-0 at half time we looked forward to the injection of De Vanna as she replaced Small in the second half. McCallum's strike just two minutes from the restart told us we were going to really take it to the Norwegians. The locals kept asking why no. 11 (De Vanna) and no. 9 (Walsh) weren't playing - they are clearly getting a good following here.

When De Vanna took the field, the whole team and the supporters lifted to a superior level. If the Norwegian defence was stressed at that point then they really felt the pressure by the time Walsh and then Munoz entered the game.
The waves of 'offence' from the Aussies were great signs that we would at least equalise. Patches of scarey attacking runs by the Vikings kep our defenders and keeper Barbieri on their toes but it was De VAnna that created the most excitement. Her one on one with the Norwegian keeper could just as easily snuck inside the upright instead of going out. Then her finish after a Munoz pass was one of the best I've seen in many many international games. We were all on our feet and yelling ... and Andy was beaming with pride because his daughter had 'assisted' directly with that goal. 1-1

The Matildas continued their assault on the Norwegians but were content with the single point from the game to put them in top place. This was a truly great team performance, inspired by solid and creative midfield work by McCallum and Garriock in particular and defence by Alagich and Salisbury. Slatyer rarely looked in trouble in goal.

I've known De Vanna for probably ten years, and it no secret that she's got a very chequered history in the national team. In this campaign, however, she's come of age and is rapidly developing 'star' status with the locals and with opposing teams. She's also very well respected by her team mates. She's the centre of attention for the media and the throng of fans waiting near the mixed zone and around the team bus demonstrate that she's extremely popular with the Chinese. She signed autographs on scraps of paper, t-shirts and anything else the locals could put to her - and all on the bonnet of the police patrol car !! If only I could send you the photo.

The rest of the team lift when De VAnna and Walsh are on the field. Salisbury said later that it was such a pleasure to be in defence and watch those players weave their magic and torment the opposition. How true.

Sermanni was full of praise for the full team and said De Vanna will remain an impact player, rather than a starter, because that was her preference. He noted the number of games the Matildas had played over the past two years as a key factor in their development and talked about the young players who are rising to the pressure and doing their job. Naturally he was delighted to get the point from the Norwegians and will now look his strategy for combating the Sinclair factor and Canada. The CAnadians are coached by the former Norwegian coach and we can expect another tough, physically strong and dangerous encounter. A draw will put us into the quarter finals - only once achieved before by the Young Matildas in a WYC.

Much is riding on this WWC campaign including US$ one million for the winners. A guanteed US$250K for placings 9-16, and a further US$100K for the quarter finalists. The Aussie players will have 30% share in the prize money.

I asked the family members after the game who they thought would get player of the match. Bill Garriock said "my daugther of course". And he was right. For the second time in two games, Australian players have secured the coveted award and rightly so! In case you're wondering, to be awarded the player of the match, you have to be a 'starter' - therefore, unless De Vanna starts a game then she's not going to be in the running for the award.

I'm off for some site seeing and R&R before I leave for Chengdu tomorrow. Another meeting beforehand though to promote the Kanga Cup and then it's full steam ahead for the next four days before we deal with the Cannucks! We can't wait.

Hopefully the Australian media has given great credence to the Matildas result. They not only 'took it to the Norwegians' they almost pinched the game from them. Why not write an email to the head of broadcasting at SBS and tell them how good it is to see these games live on telly?. It's been almost 20 years since our first encounter at the Invitational World Championships in China when we were absolutely thrashed, and embarrassed to boot, by Norway. Last night, those of us here in Hangzhou (as well as hundreds of thousands of fans at home for the first time) saw the Matildas let us know that they should not be under-estimated ever again. They have already created history by winning a game and then drawing with Norway. We are one game away for more history and acknowledging that this is now one of the all-time greatest Australian teams. These are the final 16 nations from a qualification process involving over 120 countries. Australia is mixing with the best in the world - not just those who put their hand up to play. Just imagine what this is going to do for the growth of girls and women's participation and interest in football - let alone in sport!

More in a coupla days.