The Matildas boosted their 2012 London Olympics qualification chances with a convincing 5-1 victory over Thailand at the Jinan Olympic Sports Centre, China.

Four first-half goals, including two by late call up Michelle Heyman, gave the Matildas an unassailable lead before heading into the tunnel. Heyman’s goals were the first she had scored at international level but in only her third appearance showed a sign of possible things to come.

In her first time in the Matildas’ Starting XI, Heyman dedicated her first goal to former Illawarra Stingrays team mate Ashleigh Connor. Connor, whose birthday it would have been today, died in a car accident on her way home from training on 20 July.

Head Coach Tom Sermanni commended Heyman, who was called up to the team after Samantha Kerr sustained a serious knee injury, on her performance.

“Michelle has grown in confidence and skill in the last two years,” said Sermanni.

“It’s great for her to score a couple of real, quality striker’s goals.”

Kyah Simon, Tameka Butt and Emily Van Egmond also scored for Australia. Four goals was the margin at half time, which allowed the Westfield Matildas to make some changes and rest players ahead of the Japan game.

“I’m pleased that we scored five goals,” said Sermanni.

“Goals could be critical in this tournament. It’s not easy to score goals against any Asian team these days.

“I’m also pleased that we finished the game off by half time so we could make some changes and rest players ahead of the Japan game.

“However, our second-half performance left a lot to be desired.

“Thailand put us under a lot more pressure in the second half, and we lost our rhythm.

“We conceded a goal with a basic defensive error. If we’re going to be a top team we’ve got to eliminate those errors.

“The next game will be a very important one, and one that will require us to be switched on for the full 90 minutes.

Tonight the Matildas will meet reigning world champions Japan in the third match of their qualification campaign.

It will be the first time the teams have met since the 2010 AFC Asian Cup semi final, which Australia won 1-0. Japan finished third in the Asian Cup and proved themselves formidable opponents during the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup—they defeated the USA 3-1 on penalties in the grand final after the teams were deadlocked 2-2 after extra time.

Tom Sermanni said he was looking forward to the match.

“For many years, we’ve had an extremely close relationship with Japan, and a strong and friendly rivalry,” Sermanni said.

“We always know it’s going to be an outstanding game against them and that they’re going to test us to our limits,” he said. “We have a great deal of respect for Japan and the way they play. I think that respect is mutual.”

Japan may have recently been crowned world champions, but the Matildas have a good track record against them. Of 18 matches played, the Westfield Matildas have won five and drawn seven.

“We’ve had a very good track record against Japan in critical games,” Sermanni said. “Hopefully history will repeat itself tomorrow.”

Sermanni said he was also interested to see what impact winning the Women’s World Cup has had on Japan.

“It will be interesting to see how Japan refocus for the tournament after the elation of winning the Women’s World Cup,” Sermanni said. “They could either be flying or be flat.”

So far, he said, little was separating the top teams in this Olympic qualification tournament.

“The results so far have shown how tight this competition is,” Sermanni said. “The games between the top teams have either been drawn or won by a goal. If we can get a result against Japan tomorrow night, it places us in a strong position for Olympic qualification.”

The Matildas will play a total of five matches in 11 days, with the teams that finish in the top two qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The Matildas were defeated 0-1 in their opening match. They will meet South Korea and China in their final two matches.

Football Federation Australia