The Matildas aimed to win at least one from two of their final Asian Cup matches in order to qualify for the 2011 Women's World Cup. By winning their first match, the semi final against the in-form competition favourites Japan, they actually scored two from one.
The upset victory over the Japanese, who had issued the likes of 4-0 and 8-0 spankings on their way to finishing on top of Group B, is nothing short of massive and secured the Matildas a spot in both the Asian Cup final and the 2011 Women's World Cup.
Are there even words for how huge and how exciting that is?
All this was achieved with a relatively young and inexperienced Matildas team and just days after the devastating loss of striker Lisa de Vanna through a please-don't-make-me-watch-the-replay-any-more collision that makes you wince every. single. time.
The Matildas are now the second team to have qualified for the World Cup, behind only host nation Germany, and just about every other national women's team will be watching the Asian Cup final with interest.
Before we get too excited, the way the Matildas qualified wasn't pretty. In fact, the match against Japan was, at times, fairly frightening and I'd bet my Socceroos scarf that coach Tom Sermanni had to issue a half-time Football 101 edict to hold possession.
But the win, if not pretty, was pretty effectively dogged. The Matildas more often than not gave away possession or failed to effectively clear the ball, but they also chased and defended hard to rectify those mistakes.
The scoreline could have been very different had they not rallied so well and, in the end, their persistence paid off. The Matildas made a fast break and Kate Gill managed to seize on and hoof in a ball that the Japanese goalkeeper couldn't contain.
Ugly or otherwise, that one goal in one match proved enough. And two outcomes from one ain't half bad.
