Hayley Raso scored the Matildas’ second goal to seal victory.Credit:Getty Images
“We need to give credit to the Thailand goalkeeper (Waraporn Boonsing),I think she had a phenomenal game.”
Gustavsson made no changes to the starting side thatthrashed Sweden last week but Mary Fowler,Larissa Crummer and Emily Van Egmond came on after the interval.
A natural striker,Crummer replaced defender Charlotte Grant who appeared to pick up a knock in the countdown to half-time.
“(Grant) is a warrior,if I wanted her to push through in the second half she would have,” Gustavsson said.
Just two minutes after the break,Raso tore through the middle of the Thai defence and showed no signs of the corked thigh she suffered in the first half as she blasted Australia’s second into the goal.
Kerr earned an early mark in the 62nd minute,replaced by Alex Chidiac,and the Australians did not score again despite continuing to enjoy the bulk of chances.
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“It was a 2-0 win,but I think it was a very,very dominant 2-0 win,” Gustavsson said.
“I think it was more than that,if that makes sense.”
With her 151st appearance for the national side,defender Clare Polkinghorne joined Cheryl Sainsbury as the most-capped Matilda of all time.
In the final 10 minutes,Elise Kellond-Knight made her return from a two-and-a-half year injury lay-off that pre-dated the Tokyo Olympics,while Gustavsson handed Matilda McNamara her debut.