JOE Montemurro is refusing to be downbeat about the Matildas’ deflating Women’s Asian Cup setback against South Korea by drawing a parallel with Australia’s last continental triumph.
Rather than be too downcast after his side blew a 2-1 halftime lead to surrender top spot in the group to the Korean with a 3-3 draw, Montemurro is bullish about the prospect of Australia picking themselves off the canvas to go again.
The Matildas head to Perth this week for a quarter-final clash with the second-placed team in group B — either China or North Korea, who meet in Sydney on Monday.
But Montemurro, who looks set to be without leftback Steph Catley due to concussion, said his side could take heart from the performance of the Socceroos in the 2015 men’s tournament.
Under Ange Postecoglou, Australia finished second in their pool after a defeat to South Korea before exacting revenge to win the final.
“I think you’re always going to have these ups and downs in tournaments and it’s probably nice it’s come now,” Montemurro said.
“We showed character to finish the game off and still get a result. We just have to be smarter and stick together.
“It’s that little something you need in a tournament. I remember when Australia won the men’s Asian Cup, they lost to Korea in the third game, a group game.
“We needed more goals, we didn’t get them and we’re going on another route.”
Catley is likely to be absent for the quarter-final paving the way for Courtney Nevin to start at leftback.
Nevin gave away a penalty early into the first half that allowed Korea to draw level and missed her assignment as the group A winners nabbed their third.
“Players make mistakes, they make errors, if we are going to pinpoint errors we could be here all day,” said Montemurro.
“She made a couple of errors and when you’ve got a young player coming in like that, they have to learn to be a little bit smarter.”
Montemurro lamented his side’s ability to retain possession against Korea after a first-half in which Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord both fluffed chances that would have killed their opponents off.
Once again, a brace from deep-lying midfielder Alanna Kennedy patched over Australia’s failure to convert gilt-edged chances.
“Hopefully, we can start managing games better and finishing the chances we’re creating,” Montemurro said.
“In the first half, I think we had three or four golden opportunities that we should have probably finished.
“The attacking third is always an anomaly. You want to find that moment and you want to be clean and clinical in that moment.”
By George CLARKE, AAP
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