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Sam Kerr endured a rare off night in front of goal as the Matildas crashed out of the Women's Asian Cup with a shock 1-0 quarter-final loss to Korea Republic.
Kerr had a series of golden opportunities early in Sunday's match in Pune, and she fluffed another chance at the death when Australia needed a goal to send the match into extra time.
Korea grimly held on despite being absolutely dominated, and their determination paid off in the 87th minute when Ji So-yun unleashed a mesmerising strike from outside the box into the top right hand corner of the net.
The result was a cruel blow for the Matildas, who had dominated the group stage on the way to scoring 24 goals and conceding just one.
It's also a major wake-up call for the Matildas ahead of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The Matildas were left furious by a number of referee decisions throughout Sunday's match, but ultimately it was their failure to capitalise on their glut of chances that cost them victory.
Australia had five golden chances inside the opening 20 minutes, with four of them falling to Kerr.
Kerr combined with Emily van Egmond for a clever one-two in the fourth minute, but her close-range shot lacked power and was easily saved.
Her lob from the edge of the box three minutes later sailed high, and a marginal offside call robbed her of being awarded a penalty in the 17th minute.
Kerr was left feeling even more frustrated in the 20th minute when her header hit the post.
After surviving the Matildas' chances, Korea finally worked their way into the match and were awarded a lucky penalty in the 39th minute.
VAR was brought into play after Matildas hard nut Caitlin Foord bowled over midfielder Lee Geum-min in a strong but fair tackle.
It took five minutes for first VAR and then referee Qin Liang to make a decision, with Foord left stunned when the penalty was awarded.
Cho So-hyun stepped up to take the penalty, but she fired her shot high above the crossbar to the relief of Australia.
Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams pulled off a stunning save in the 51st minute to deny Lee Geum-min from point-blank range.
Williams dove full length to her left a few minutes later to produce another clutch save to deny Cho.
Matildas players were left fuming when Steph Catley's arm was pulled back in the box in the 60th minute but no penalty was forthcoming.
Despite the evident nature of the foul, it was not looked at by VAR.
Out of nowhere, Ji pulled out a cracker from long range to put South Korea through to the semi-finals.
The Matildas had one final chance to send the match into extra time, but Kerr could not connect properly with a close-range shot, and Hayley Raso's toe-poke went just wide.
AAP
By Samantha L
Devastating. Shocking. A disaster. A failure.
Some powerful words from broadcast pundits Chloe Logarzo and Andy Harper after the Matildas are knocked out.
"It's an utter disaster," Harper says.
The mood across the television coverage and social media has fallen completely flat. Almost a stunned silence.
Contentious refereeing decisions aside, Australia still created plenty of opportunities across that 90 minutes. Sam Kerr was particularly unimpressive, missing two clear chances that a striker with her reputation should have buried.
Then they panicked. They fell back into old habits. They let Korea back into the match, and in the end, it wasn't Kerr but her Chelsea team-mate Ji So-Yun who delivered the parting gift: a dagger of a strike that was, in the end, the decider.
This game and this result will be digested and discussed for some time. What it means, who's responsible, and where they go from here is still tangled up in the emotion and the shock of it all.
We had huge ambitions to lift the Asian Cup for the first time in over a decade with a team that has been touted as one of the world's best.
I'll have some more thoughtful analysis over at ABC Sport tomorrow, but for now, Australia will be glad they've automatically qualified for next year's Women's World Cup as co-hosts, because tonight's result could have seen them miss out on the biggest stage of all.
Congratulations to Korea, who clearly did their research and executed their game-plan brilliantly. At the end of the day, their key players stood up when it mattered, while Australia's didn't.
In tournament football, those are the moments that decide who wins and who loses.
Let's hope the discourse that emerges off the back of this game and this tournament is constructive, informed, and productive so that the team can build from this and not collapse in a heap.
By Samantha L
Full-time: Korea 1 - 0 Australia
The tournament favourites are out at the quarter-final stage.
By Samantha L
The referee has stopped the game with a Korea player going down grasping at a leg
Stops in play are only required for head injuries
Sam Kerr is asking the question, as are the commentators
Some really bizarre refereeing across the past 90 minutes that could ultimately decide the game
By Samantha L
Two minutes of the five left to play
Yellow cards are being thrown around everywhere, all formations seem to have dissolved, as has my use of punctuation and thoughtful commentary
By Samantha L
SO CLOSE
SAM KERR
A long ball falls to the captain and she goes for the half-volley but scuffs it wide of the far post yet again
By Samantha L
Hayley Raso is on
Caution has been thrown to the wind
Australia need an equaliser
We're into stoppage time
By Samantha L
GOAL KOREA
And who else but Ji So-Yun?
She breaks through Australia's tired defensive lines and charges towards the top of the box, unleashing a stunning, bullet strike into the top right corner.
Korea 1 - 0 Australia.
By Samantha L
Chance Korea!
Almost a free header from defender Lim Seon-Joo who connects to a perfectly flighted cross from the right side.
But the ball goes wide of the far post.
By Samantha L
The game is stretching
Both sides are relying more on counter-attacks than build-up play now with the midfield space deeply open. Korea's transitional players have had plenty of grass to run into as Australia's defenders have become more conservative and sat back, perhaps with an eye on 30 minutes of extra time where the Matildas' higher fitness levels could get them over the line.
There's five minutes left and it's still 0-0.
Squeaky bum time.
By Samantha L
Ten minutes to go...
Kyah Simon sends a lovely curling corner into the six-yard box and you see the white-blonde hair of Kennedy charging towards it, but goalkeeper Kim paws it away just before the Matildas' head meets the ball.
By Samantha L
So who is Tony's next game changer? Missing a yallop here I feel!-lilyremi
A Yallop would've been brilliant in a game like this: a goal-scoring midfielder who makes unpredictable runs from deep spaces and breaks through organised lines.
In that sense, I'd like to see a Holly McNamara brought on (if she's fit). We've seen Cortnee Vine already making a huge impact down the right, you feel a similarly line-breaking attacker down the left is needed given Caitlin Foord has faded a bit this half.
By Samantha L
HOW DID KERR MISS
OH MY GOD
Cortnee Vine makes a brilliant run down the right wing, whistles into the box and cuts the ball back PERFECTLY for Kerr on the penalty spot
But Kerr just... fluffs it wide.
I literally yelled out loud in my empty house. I hope that moment doesn't come back to bite us.
By Samantha L
75 minutes gone
And it's still 0-0.
Korea have been better in this half and have created more opportunities in their attacking third. Australia will be frustrated that they didn't capitalise on the chances they did so well to set up in the first 45.
Not to jinx it, but Gustavsson did say they'd been practising penalties in the last training session, so at least we're prepared if it gets to that point...
By Samantha L
That's a IJHHGGHHFRR68UTTTDEW345 PENALTY!!!!-G f erhhfrfhgddwjj
Rest assured that this was exactly my first response before I had to delete the blog post and write actual words, because I am paid to make at least a little bit of sense in these things. But I absolutely empathise with the keyboard-mashing reaction.
By Samantha L
Oh my days! How that isn't a "clear and obvious" foul on Catley and Simon is baffling. Really feel for the Matildas - I'd be blowing up in my Sunday league team haha.-chipdaddy
How Korea was awarded a penalty for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge on the 18-yard line but Catley being blatantly grabbed on the arm in the area was waved away is a genuine mystery to me.
By Samantha L
We understand you allowing the Matildas to play their own game, but we might need you to step in soon with with a 'GOAL AUSTRALIA'-Pre-emptive
If I could manifest a Matildas goal, I assure you my unprecedented levels of bone-shaking anxiety would have us up by 100 by now.
Maybe I'm not typing hard enough. Where's John Safran when you need him?
By Samantha L
Australia continue pushing
Wave after wave of entries into the box, but Korea are defending brilliantly. They're gravitating to Kerr every time the ball even thinks about going near her. We expected this, certainly, and yet it's still so frustrating...
By Samantha L
Pause in play
Korea's Lee Young-Ju has taken a heavy tumble and is being rolled onto a stretcher.
Tony Gustavsson has been sending mysterious hand signals to his players.
Anyone who can decipher his code gets a lollipop.
By Samantha L
It's Courtney o'clock! Hmm, there has be a snappier way of putting that...-Shaun
You could say...
...it's...
Vine Time.
By Samantha L
Penalty shout!?
Steph Catley makes a fabulous charging run from the left side into the box, and she's clearly grabbed by Cho. Catley takes a beat before going down but despite the shouts across the field, the referee waves it away.