Matildas international friendly
European champions, Netherlands, defeat Australia 3-0 in their final warm-up match before the World Cup before a crowd of 30,238. The match was described as a “reality check” for the Matildas. According to Georgia Yeoman-Dale, player with Western Sydney Wanderers who is also an analyst with Fox Sports, the Matildas “purposely came into this game fatigued”.
Australia had their chances with 57% possession and 15 shots on goal compared with Netherlands 10, and 10 corners to the Netherlands' three.
Netherlands, 3 (Shanice van de Sanden 45+1', 70'; Vivianne Miedema 49') v Australia, 0 (Photo: Getty)
Also of interest, New Zealand defeated England 0-1 in their final World Cup friendly at the home of Brighton (Amex Stadium) with a 50th minute goal to Sarah Gregorius.
The Matildas play their first match of the World Cup next Sunday at 9pm AEST against Italy.
UEFA Champions League finals
Liverpool won its sixth European championship with a 0-2 defeat of Tottenham in Madrid in a match that hardly lived up to its billing as the best of the best in Europe, not least because neither team had played a competitive match in three weeks. Nonetheless, it's the sixth Champions League star on the shirt for Liverpool and will give manager Jurgen Klopp a place amongst the greats of Anfield who has transformed a somewhat mediocre Premier League team into the champions of Europe in less than four years.
Their Champions League wins have come in:
1977 v Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome
1978 v Club Brugge in London
1981 v Real Madrid in Paris
1984 v Roma in Rome
2005 v Milan in Istanbul
2019 v Tottenham in Madrid
Tottenham, 0 v Liverpool, 2 (Mohamed Salah 2' pen; Divock Origi 87') (Photo: LFC)