BA, FIJI: The Australian Matildas women’s team has all but clinched the Oceania berth to the 2004 Athens Olympics after inflicting a heavy 10-0 defeat on a gallant but ultimately outgunned Papua New Guinea side yesterday.
Fiji will now not only have to win, but win big by at least 13 goals to upset the rampant Australians. The final match this Saturday between the hosts and Australia at Govind Park will bring to an end the 2004 OFC Women’s Olympic qualifiers.
Papua New Guinea will return home today having played out their two matches which yielded a 2-0 win over Fiji and a loss to the Australians. But they can be proud of their second half effort (after trailing 0-7) against a much higher ranked opponent who had just finished competing in a high level four nation tournament which included Korea DPR, China PR and New Zealand, the latter opting not to enter the Oceania Olympic Qualifiers. PNG in contrast played their last international women’s match at the South Pacific Games in Fiji in July last year, winning the gold medal.
Visit the official tournament website by clicking on the icon logo on the right to get the latest updates, results and reports from Fiji