Rachael Kaphaizi

Australia Women’s Football team, popularly known as ‘The Matildas’, showed their class with a dominant 5-0 thrashing of Malawi in the FIFA Women’s International Series in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday.

Playing as hosts, the Matildas, as they are popularly called, wasted no time in asserting control.

They struck first in the 6th minute to set the tone, then doubled their lead in the 41st minute.

Malawi went into the break 2-0 down and searching for answers.

Any hopes of a second-half fightback were quickly dashed. Australia picked up right where they left off, adding three more goals to complete the rout.

Speaking after the heavy defeat, Malawi head coach Lovemore Fazili said the match was an important lesson for his side.

“It was a very good game for us. We were up against a team with much more experience, and we have learned a lot from today,” he said.

Malawi will now play either Kenya or India in a third-place play-off on Tuesday.