Philippines coach explains tactics against Matildas in Asian Cup match

“We’ve seen evidence of the team dropping off very, very deep,” Montemurro said. “There was no space behind at all, so we had to draw them out, and they wouldn’t come out of spaces. All credit to them. If that’s what their approach is, that’s fine. We probably needed to shift them a little bit quicker in the first half especially.

“But I think it was probably more about us identifying when we can play forward and be a little bit braver. We’ll grow into that. It’s our first game together for a while, and we’re probably a little bit more conservative. Just wanted to make sure we got through this with a good, controlled base.”

Australia racked up 15 shots, but only six were on target, and turned their focus to Thursday’s second group match with a sense Iran might well opt for a similar approach on the Gold Coast. A standout for the Philippines was US-born goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel, who made several critical interventions and even took a couple of free kicks from the halfway line.

“We’re really happy with the scoreline,” McDaniel said. “I mean, we did want to win, but against a top opponent like the Matildas that’s pretty well done from us. I’m really excited we could come away with that, especially after our last time out here at this stadium.

“We were coming in with a bit of a chip on our shoulder, and we didn’t want what happened last time to happen again.”

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In goal for Australia, Chloe Lincoln was overcoming nerves after being thrust into the starting line-up for her fourth international appearance, and first at a tournament. Montemurro revealed Mackenzie Arnold’s absence was down to “calf fatigue” which prompted a decision to rest her, while Jada Whyman was withdrawn from the squad after injuring herself during training.

“It was pretty full on,” said Lincoln who only found out she’d be playing late on Saturday afternoon. “It also happened so quickly … I was pretty [devastated] about Jada, too, because I know this would have been awesome for her to make her debut.

“I get nervous every game, so probably a few more this time, but I think I just tried to make the most of it and enjoy the experience as much as I could, because things like this don’t really happen too often.

“Macca sort of spoke to me before the game as well and she was just like, ‘Keep it simple to start, work yourself into the game. No pressure to do anything that crazy’. It was nice to get a couple of touches early on.”