Pendragon Management is built upon the principal values of King Arthur – honesty, integrity, wisdom and courage. Our vision is founded on chivalry and equity. These core values are reflected in all of our Olympians representing Australia.
As a result of these values, and CEO John Glover’s love for the round ball, Pendragon has dedicated its support to the Matildas, modern Knights of the Round Table, as they shoot for gold in Rio.
A two all draw with world number two Germany has kept the possibility of qualifying for the quarter finals alive…
Source: Getty Images via The Matildas Twitter
Match Two: AUS v GER
It promised to be an intense game, and amazing play from goal keeper Lydia Williams seemed enough for Australia to hold onto the win, until an 87th minute equaliser from Saskia Bartusiak snatched the win away from the Aussie girls.
The scoring opened after six minutes, with Caitlin Foord making a run down the field to pick out an unmarked Samantha Kerr. Kerr didn’t falter and struck the ball left foot past the German keeper and into the net.
The lead was doubled in the 45th minute when De Vanna ran down a long pass and beat the defender to send a hard low cross across goal, where Foord tapped it home.
In an instant reply, the German’s managed to bring the score back to 2-1 when Sara Dabritz scooped the ball with the outside of her foot to chip Lydia Williams and drop the ball neatly into the net.
As the second half continued, the Australian defence held strong until the 87th minute set piece from a corner brought Germany equal. The Matilda’s now have to defeat Zimbabwe in order to have the chance to qualify for the quarter finals.
After defeating Australia in the first round, Canada went on to defeat Zimbabwe in the second game, confirming their qualification for the quarter finals. United States and Brazil have also confirmed qualification with two wins from two games
Qualifying Statistics
In each group, the two teams who finish top will qualify for the quarter finals, with the two third placed teams that have the highest points will claim the final two spots in the top 8. Australia can qualify for the quarter finals the following ways:
Australia defeats Zimbabwe – The Matilda’s need to defeat Zimbabwe if they want to qualify. Failure to do so will see us final 4th in Group F with no means of qualifying
Canada defeats Germany – Canada has already qualified, and if they can defeat Germany there is a small possibility of the Matilda’s finishing 2nd in the group and gaining automatic qualification, depending on the goal difference between the teams.
Germany defeats Canada, or the two teams have a draw – This places Australia third in the group, and therefore the results of the other pools need to be considered
Group E: China v Sweden
China and Sweden have a win each, therefore a winner either way will assist Australia in qualifying, as third place in Group E will finish with 3 points while Australia will finish with 4 points. If this game finishes in a draw then it will come down to goal difference.
Group G: New Zealand v France
A similar situation as Group E, if there is a decisive winner in this game Australia will finish as the best placed third team. While either France or NZ winning will help Australia qualifying, there is a part of Pendragon that would like to see our friend across the Tasman qualify alongside us, so we will be cheering for the Football Ferns to win this game.
