{"id":399516,"date":"2024-06-03T11:49:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T11:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=399516"},"modified":"2024-06-03T12:04:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T12:04:44","slug":"mammoth-crowd-give-matildas-legend-emotional-farewell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=399516","title":{"rendered":"Mammoth crowd give Matildas legend emotional farewell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matildas<\/a> legend Lydia Williams<\/a> bowed out in emotional fashion on Mondaywalking off the field for the final time in Australia as the side recorded a 2-0 win over China.<\/p>\n

The veteran goalkeeper, who will hang up the boots after this year's Olympic Games<\/a>, played the majority of the first half in a friendly clash against China.<\/p>\n

Williams was given a standing ovation by the packed Accor Stadium crowd, as she was subbed off for first-choice keeper Mackenzie \ufeffArnold before half-time.<\/p>\n

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"This is such a special moment," Grace Gill said on Paramount commentary.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"A moment 19 years in the making and a team that is better known with Lydia Williams than without. One thing is for sure – the Matildas are better and football is better for having had Lydia Williams in it."<\/p>\n

Co-commentator Robbie Thomson also praised \ufeffthe 36-year-old for her dedication.<\/p>\n

"She made her debut in 2005 \u2026 now at 36, having spent more than half her life as an international footballer, so much of that when that was almost a chore compared to an honour – she now retires as a hero of the game," he said.<\/p>\n

Before the game started, Williams was visibly emotional as she was given a special presentation in Sydney, before composing herself \ufeffto take the field and help the Matildas go into the break at a deadlock against their Asian rivals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The hosts had plenty of scoring chances in the early stages, but some sloppy finishing stopped the Aussies from taking the lead.<\/p>\n

Immediately after the break, Clare Wheeler put the Matildas ahead on the scoreboard with a well-timed header, before Hayley Raso made it 2-0 before the hour-mark.<\/p>\n

Some resilient defence in the second half saw the Matildas hold on and the side will now head to Paris next month in their bid to win gold.<\/p>\n

"It was really important, it was our last game before the Olympics and we wanted to turn up and put on a show," Raso said post-game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"We came out and did a little better than we did in the last game. They are a well-drilled team and very solid defensively. We just needed to be patient and break them down and we did that eventually. <\/p>\n

"Only 18 players are going to the Olympics – it's always special and spots are on the line, so everyone is trying their best."<\/p>\n

Head coach Tony Gustavsson<\/a> will name his final 18-player squad for the Olympics on Tuesday morning, with a few spots still up for grabs prior to the China friendly, which saw a record crowd of 76,798 turn out to support the national womens team.<\/p>\n

One woman who won't be available for Paris is superstar Sam Kerr<\/a>, who remains sidelined with a serious knee injury suffered earlier this year. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matildas legend Lydia Williams bowed out in emotional fashion on Mondaywalking off the field for the final time in Australia as the side recorded a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":399518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=399516"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399522,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399516\/revisions\/399522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/399518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=399516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=399516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=399516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}