Matildas focused on improvement in return clash with Uzbekistan

The Matildas’ berth at the Paris Olympics is all but sealed but coach Tony Gustavsson wants his side to be more ruthless in the second leg of its qualifying series against Uzbekistan. 

A late scoring blitz — with Michelle Heyman, Mary Fowler and Caitlin Foord finding the back of the net — delivered a 3-0 win in Tashkent ahead of Wednesday night’s return clash in Melbourne.

But the Matildas were wasteful with their scoring opportunities before Heyman broke through in the 72nd minute to put the visitors on top.

“We didn’t panic and get frustrated from not scoring in the first half,” Gustavsson said.

“But we left way too many goals on the table. Our conversion rate must have been really bad. We could have scored, we left a lot of goals out there.

“That needs to be better on Wednesday.”

Fowler said the Matildas were their own worst enemy at times due to a “lack of concentration”.

“People get a bit frustrated and that all points back to having patience,” she said.

“It was good for us to be able to turn that around and get goals in the second half.

“But even for myself, looking back at some of those chances in the first half, it’s just millimetres off and it’s a goal or it’s a better chance.”

Gustavsson stressed posting three goals, combined with keeping Uzbekistan scoreless, had just given his charges freedom to kick up a gear in Melbourne.

“We actually spoke about that going into this game that this is the first half of two,” he said.

“A lot of players have experienced playing Champions League when it’s the same thing when you play home and away, and it’s a two-leg series and you need to play that a bit different.

“So we said, ‘Let’s have a very, very focused, mature performance where we don’t give anything away in terms of defending, focus and discipline’.”

The Matildas were due to head directly to Dubai after the match, then share a flight with their Uzbek opponents to Melbourne.

After experiencing near-freezing conditions in Tashkent, both teams could deal with temperatures up to 36 degrees Celsius in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“I definitely prefer this,” Fowler said with a laugh.

“I’m a lot more acclimatised to the cold now so I might die in Australia, actually.”

AAP