Matildas fail to qualify for 2012 London Olympics

Australia’s women footballers came from behind to defeat South Korea 2-1 and finish third in the 2012 Olympic qualification tournament in China.

But the Matildas missed qualification from the five-team tournament as North Korea beat Thailand 5-0 to finish second behind winners Japan.

Two second-half goals sealed the match for the Matildas after they went a goal down early in the first half.

Coach Tom Sermanni was happy to get an improved performance after losing to Japan and North Korea, both by one goal, and beating China 1-0.

“I was very proud of the effort and the character our players showed to come back in the second half to win the game,” he said.

“When you consider we lost two of the first three games, the tournament could easily have gotten away from us and been a non-event.”

“The way that we’ve come back demonstrates the character of this group of players.

“If you look at all the games in this tournament, I don’t think a team has come from behind to win.”

by Buford Balony

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