A late goal from veteran World Cup winner Saskia Bartusiak muted celebrations as the Matildas went close to shocking world No2 Germany, with their match in Sao Paolo finishing 2-2.
Bouncing back from a disappointing opening Group F loss to Canada, Australia were great value for a point, once again creating a host of chances in front of goal.
The result leaves Australia third in the group with one point, with Germany ahead on four and Canada with six points following their 3-1 win earlier in the day over Zimbabwe.
Sam Kerr opened the scoring in the fifth minute after excellent build up work from the lively Caitlin Foord, before provider turned scorer in the shadow of half-time after Lisa De Vanna’s cheeky nutmeg on the by-line and excellent cross.
But with a 2-0 half-time lead beckoning the Matildas were badly undone, conceding less than a minute after scoring, with added time on the clock.
Alexandra Popp, so often at the heart of Germany’s best moves, drew the attention of two defenders before laying off for Sara Däbritz. The young Bayern Munich midfielder finished brilliantly with the outside of the left foot, to dink an effort over an outstretched Lydia Williams, clipping the underside of the crossbar to join Foord’s effort in being an early contender for goal of the tournament.
It was a pulsating first half with both sides enjoying several well-fashioned opportunities. Having succumbed to a very early goal in their opening match against Canada, it was the Matildas who turned the tables on Germany.
A magnificent driving run from Foord through the centre of the field drew several German defenders allowing the versatile forward to pick out Kerr in space, who finished clinically with her left foot from about nine yards out.
Wolfsburg’s Popp looked lively, but it was veteran striker Anja Mittag who first had Williams scrambling in the Matildas goal. Her header in the eighth minute just evaded the top right corner.
Dzsenifer Marozsan didn’t shy from trying her luck, testing Williams with a fiercely driven strike from distance shortly after, as Australia protected their 1-0 lead and invited the Germans forward.
A well-worked training ground move from a corner saw the unlikely figure of central defender Laura Alleway fade a long range effort just wide of Schult’s goal.
As the half progressed Germany pushed harder for an equaliser with Williams twice called into action to tip brilliantly around the post, first from Mittag after an excellent jinking run, and then from Melanie Behringer whose thumping drive arrowed for the bottom right hand corner.
But the more die Nationalelf pushed, the more the Matildas found space on the counter attack. Katrina Gorry’s well-driven strike evaded Schult but also the far post, before De Vanna’s sublime skill found Foord in the shadow of half-time.
After the break both sides continued to push, with the Matildas not resting on their lead. Foord and Kerr combined well to exploit the German backline with their pace, with substitute Michelle Heyman also lively after replacing De Vanna.
But with full-time approaching it was the experienced Bartusiak who saved her nation’s blushes, evading the best efforts of captain Claire Polkinghorne to bundle home a late equaliser with just minutes remaining.
Australia face Zimbabwe in the final group stage match, with the top two teams qualifying for the next round, and the best two third-placed teams qualifying for the quarter-finals.
