Youthful Matildas provide spark in friendly win over South Korea

Captain Sam Kerr was among a host of top players absent from the friendly but youngsters Holly McNamara and Kyra Cooney-Cross gave eye-catching performances as Australia tested their depth. Australia were more dangerous in attack and South Korea's gritty defence cracked in the 54th minute with an own goal from defender Lim Seon-joo.

"They're a tough and physical side and I think it's so important to test ourselves against teams that we will be playing against at (next year's) Asian Cup," 21-year-old Jamilla Rankin said after her first start for Australia.

Australia lost all three of their games at the recent She Believes Cup in the United States and the Matildas tumbled to 16th in the world rankings, the lowest in 20 years for the hosts of next year's Asian Cup.

Kerr, Australia's leading scorer in international football, has not played for 15 months since rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament while training with Chelsea. The 31-year-old was also found not guilty in February of causing racially aggravated harassment after a drunken night out in Britain.

She is poised to return for home friendlies against Argentina in late May and June. Australia were also missing injured first-choice goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, Lyon defender Ellie Carpenter and Tottenham star Hayley Raso.

The Matildas started energetically in front of a crowd of 37,199 and had an early chance when 22-year-old McNamara almost pounced on a loose ball in the box. South Korea regrouped and controlled possession but were unable to seriously threaten goalkeeper Teagan Micah.

Australia almost broke the deadlock before the interval when star forward Caitlin Foord's long-range bullet forced an athletic save from Kim Minjung. The stalemate ended when Lim deflected midfielder Emily van Egmond's long cross into the top corner.

Manchester City playmaker Mary Fowler started on the bench due to a heavy workload in recent weeks. Fowler came on in the 71st minute and was almost on the scoreboard when she curled a left-foot shot narrowly wide.

The teams meet again on Monday in Newcastle, north of Sydney, and the pair of friendlies could be interim coach Tom Sermanni's last games in charge. Football Australia is set to soon announce a permanent senior coach, with Lyon's Joe Montemurro seen as the frontrunner.