The Australian WNT defeated their Brazilian counterparts 3-1 in the opening match of the 2018 Tournament of Nations. This is the fourth time that Australia has defeated Brazil in the last year going back to the 2017 iteration of the tournament. Tameka Butt, Sam Kerr and a Brazilian own goal were responsible for the Aussie’s goals while Debinha had the lone goal for Brazil.
Australia dominates score line, not stats
While Australia won the match, Brazil dominated offensively. They had 12 shots, four of them on target, but converted just one of those chances. Australia had six shots, two on goal, converting both of them. Australian goalkeeper Lydia Williams recorded three saves in the match.
The match was also an unsurprisingly physical one. Both teams recorded 14 fouls a piece and five yellow cards were handed out, three to Australia and two to Brazil. For the Aussies, Kyah Simon, Emily Van Egmond and Elise Kellond-Knight were booked while Thaisa and Joyce were booked for Brazil.
Australia goes up 2-0 in the first half
Scoring was opened up in the ninth minute thanks to an own goal. Kellond-Knight sent in a ball from the right and Brazil’s Poliana rose up to try and clear it, but the ball went into the back of the net giving Australia the early 1-0 lead. Andressinha almost equalized for Brazil in the 30th minute when she took a clear shot from the top of the box, but Williams came up with the snag.
Eight minutes after the save, Butt doubled the lead for Australia, again off of a set piece. A corner kick went into the box and bounced off of a Brazilian defender and landed right in front of Butt who headed it into the goal to give the Aussies the 2-0 lead at halftime.
Brazil answers back, but falls short of a comeback
It wasn’t long into the second half before Australia scored again, giving them a 3-0 lead early. Butt intercepted the ball and sent it through to Kerr who dribbled the ball and into the box and sent it past the Brazilian keeper Barbara. It’s Kerr’s fifth goal of 2018 and her first of the tournament. She won the golden boot with three goals in three games in 2017.
Brazil was able to pull one back thanks to a Marta and Debinha connection. Marta dribbled up the left side and crossed the ball to Debinha who put it past Williams and into goal to cut the score to 3-1 where it would stay.
Brazil will take on Japan on Sunday July 29 in Hartford, CT before Australia takes on the USWNT in the later match. Australia will then finish the tournament facing Japan on Thursday August 2 in Bridgeview, IL before Brazil faces the USWNT. The USWNT matches will be aired on FS1 and the earlier matches will be streamed on ussoccer.com.