Matildas humbled by 'exceptional' Japan in SheBelieves Cup opener

Mina Tanaka 6' 32'

Maika Hamano 52'

Moeka Minami 75'

So, that didn't quite go to plan, did it?

And, to be honest, it's hard to know where the Matildas go from here, when they have to take on the might of the USA.

The positive is that the substitutions injected some life into proceedings, and did make Australia look momentarily dangerous - albeit long after the game was done and dusted.

The USA is up next, the reigning Olympic champions, so it's good to know things can only get better...

That match kicks off at 9:00am AEDT on Monday morning, so we hope you'll join us for that.

Thanks for being with me - enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Here is the interim coach Tom Sermanni.

"Firstly, Japan were very good, they gave us a bit of a football lesson to be honest," he says.

"We were poor in a lot of areas.

"It was one of those games that didn't work out for us, and it was well deserved."

Sermanni noted that there were some positives in that Australia has now been given a glaring indication as to what Japan is capable of.

"The positive of this is that it gives us a lesson the next time we play Japan," he says.

"We haven't had a lot of preparation coming into this camp, so when things go wrong...

"Japan were exceptional.

"It's a great lesson going into the Asian Cup, because it gives us a indication as to what we need to do next time we play them."

He says that one of the things that needs to be looked at ahead of the next match against Olympic Champions USA is selection.

"Overall, it was just one of those days where we weren't good enough," he says.

"To make matters worse, we gave away two very disappointing goals."

Ellie Carpenter is fronting up after that performance.

"Obviously very disappointed," she said.

"It was a bad performance from us.

"We weren't all on the same page with the press.

"It wasn't good enough tonight.

"We need to refocus and regroup ahead of the next match."

The Matildas heaviest ever defeat at the hands of Japan comes just a year out from hosting the Asian Cup.

A lesson from the Japanese as to just how far off the pace this Matildas team is against the best team in the confederation.

The Tillies had just one shot in the 90 minutes, that being Charli Grant's 87th minute effort that came back off the crossbar.

Japan, meanwhile, had 8 on target, 18 in total, and utterly dominated.

Lovely defence from Prior, who had to lung at Ueki's shot, turning it behind for a corner.

From the corner Japan work another cross and Ueki heads over the bar.

I mean, I don't think any team deserves a free pass for what has been a truly woeful display.

It's taken them a while, but suddenly Japan is being made to look a bit frantic at the back as the Matildas flood forward.

A nice touch from McNamara sees Raso get to the byline and Japan has to scramble to clear.

Another cross comes in from the right and this time it's just too hard and over the head of the waiting Matildas strikers.

Oh Charli Grant almost gets Australia on the board!

Their first shot on target. (Yep, their first after 87 minutes) sees Grant curl a shot from outside the area against the woodwork.

Shocker from Arnold, who gifts the ball straight to the feet of Ueki inside the six-yard box.

However, the Matildas keeper makes amends with a sharp stop.

Kyra Cooney Cross is off, Natasha Prior comes on for the Tillies.

Miyabi Moriya is on for Japan in place of Tanaka.

This is starting to become cruel, the Japanese just toying with these beaten Matildas.

The women in blue are just passing the ball around simply and easily, every pass and short spell of possession the Matildas get ends in a Japanese player pushing them off the ball.

Ueki ends the torment with a driven effort from the edge of the penalty area, but it's blocked.

I was told that if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything (which admittedly makes blogging quite hard).

So I'm gunna have to plead the fifth on this question.

The Matildas fall asleep at a short corner — nicely worked by Japan, who cross perfectly for Moeka Minami to head past a stranded Mackenzie Arnold.

A very well-taken goal — and it just keeps getting worse for the Matildas.

Katrina Gorry is finally off, Emily van Egmond is on.

Oh that's almost very nice, Urawa Reds right back Hana Takahashi is released down the right flank - but then her cross is just a bit overhit.

It almost crept in over the top of Arnold towards the goal, but fell safe enough over the cross bar.