Veteran of 109 'A' internationals and Westfield Matildas captain, Joanne Peters, took to the field playing her final international match after announcing her retirement earlier this week.

Peters almost had the dream start to her final match, hitting a free kick from 22 metres, which the Italian keeper pushed away at full stretch.

With a half time score of 0-3, Australia came back in the 64th minute with Collette McCallum scoring a terrific volley.

The Italians retaliated with another goal, securing the final score 1-5 in their favour.

"It is a disappointing result for our team. We are in a transition process at the moment with many new players entering the squad - however it is still important during this time that we remain competitive," said Westfield Matildas coach, Tom Sermanni.

"These international friendly matches provided a good opportunity for Westfield W-League players to experience the difference between domestic and international football.

"Over the next few months we will be focused on rebuilding a cohesive team," he said.