The Matildas have scraped through to the Asian Cup semi-finals, surviving a late onslaught from DPR Korea to cling onto a 2-1 win on Friday night.
Despite North Korea being the dominant side for most of the quarter-final in Perth, Australia found itself 2-0 up after 47 minutes through goals to veterans Alanna Kennedy and Sam Kerr.
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Both stars punished mistakes at the back by the North Koreans — the first coming in just the ninth minute — with ruthless strikes that placed the hosts on the brink of the next stage.
The second goal involved Kerr pouncing on a horror back pass, knocking the ball past the defender, and hammering home with a venomous left-foot strike.
As Kerr’s home Perth crown went wild it seemed Australia was certain to be going through.
But there was to be a twist in the tale.
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Just as North Korea looked out of it, they found renewed hunger, and made life very uncomfortable for Australia for the match’s remainder.
Kim Kyong Yong burst from the left-hand side of the penalty area to cross to Chae Un-Yong, who tapped the ball home in the 65th minute.
That set up a nerve-wracking final 25 minutes, much of which saw the Matildas only hang onto their lead by a thread as the North Koreans continued to serge forward and pepper the goal.
Keeper Mackenzie Arnold was working overtime, but despite the sustained attack, was only called on to make relatively routine stops until the final whistle eventually blew after nearly 99 minutes.
Australia now plays the winner of China or Taiwan, who face-off on Saturday afternoon.
The win also means the Matildas have now qualified for next year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil.