Simon double fires Matildas' title ambitions at W.Cup

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AFP) - Kyah Simon scored her first World Cup goals and said she hoped they would inspire the young Matildas in their title bid as they beat Norway 2-1 to advance to the Women's World Cup quarter-finals.

Elise Thorsnes opened for 1995 winners Norway after 56 minutes in Wednesday night's game in western Germany but a minute later Simon grabbed the equaliser before the 20-year-old Sydney FC forward sealed victory with a header three minutes from time.
"Coming off a win is always good. Finishing the group stage with a victory will give us a real confidence boost ahead of the next round," said Simon.
"It was great to get two in the one game. It's been a long time coming and it's great for my confidence.
"I'm new to the World Cup scene and it will be my first quarter-finals. We're really looking forward to it."
Simon's performance ensured that she was named player of the match but she insisted that it was a team effort.
"Going into such a crucial game we knew we needed a draw or a win. The girls fought hard and when it was one-all we knew that we needed that extra goal to win," said Simon, who has scored seven goals in 28 internationals.
The Matildas matched their last eight at the 2007 edition in China where they lost to eventual runners-up Brazil 3-2.
But much has changed in the Australia set-up and this year's squad has 13 World Cup debutantes, with an average age of almost 22 and nearly half the squad is 20 or under.
Simon said winning the Asian Cup this year had opened the floodgates.
And Australia coach Tom Sermanni agreed that being part of the Asian Confederation has helped the Matildas develop.
"One of the main reasons (for our improvement) is since we went into the Asian Confederation in 2006," he said.
"We realised we had to develop from being just a strong competitive team to being a team that has a structure with ambitious and skillful players.
"This is beginning to pay dividends and we have young players coming through."
Sermanni said: "It was a tough and difficult game today as we expected it to be. Norway are a formidable opponent and they made it difficult. We had to battle really hard.
"I don't think we've reached the top but it's a significant victory.
"You have to win games against major teams at major tournaments to get credibility. It's a significant step and will be a huge boost for their confidence going into the other matches."
After ensuring Norway crashed out of the tournament for the first time in the group stages the Matildas will be looking to clip the wings of another Scandinavian side when they take on Sweden in the final eight on Sunday.
The Swedes shocked world number one team the United States 2-1 in their final Group C game in Wolfsburg.