China women suffer late heartbreak in friendly with Australia, first match for new head coach Ante Milicic ends in draw
- Steel Roses took 30th-minute lead in Adelaide but conceded an equaliser in fifth minute of stoppage time
- A former assistant to Ange Postecoglou, Australian Milicic was hired as a replacement for Shui Qingxia
China led for more than an hour before succumbing to a stoppage-time equaliser against Australia as a friendly between the two ended 1-1 on Friday.
Ante Milicic’s debut in the Steel Roses’ dugout got off to a dream start when Zhang Linyan gave them the gave them the lead on the half-hour mark.
It looked like China would record an impressive victory in front of a sell-out 52,912-crowd in Adelaide, but they were pegged back in the fifth minute of stoppage time through Michelle Heyman.
The visitors held their own against their much more experienced opponents with seven shots to Australia’s eight and three on target to the hosts’ two.
China may have failed to hold onto the victory, but it was marked improvement under their new Australian boss and they will be feeling positive moving forward after this performance.
The visitors started off well and showed their intent early on with Tottenham Hotspur’s Wang Shuang going close before shooting over the bar.
And the opening goal came shortly after when a deflected cross from Wurigumula, who plays her football in Australia, found its way to Zhang, whose shot squeezed past Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
China held onto their lead until deep in stoppage time when goalkeeper Xu Huan was penalised for handling outside the area.
The resulting free kick from Mary Fowler was parried by Xu into the path of Heyman, who tucked the ball home.
Milicic was hired earlier in May as a replacement for Shui Qingxia, who left after the Steel Roses failed to qualify for the Olympics in Paris.
Next up for China is a rematch with the Matildas on June 3 in Sydney.
