Both teams will have some bruises to heal following a physical contest.

The loss, before an announced crowd of 3,486 at Etobicoke's Centennial Stadium, dropped Canada's record to 2-3 in pre-World Cup play. It also dropped Canada's career record against Australia to 1-5-3.

Prior to the game, Canadian coach Neil Turnbull said he feared his team was feeling sluggish. Error-prone is more likely. Canada, despite looking like the better team for much of the match, paid dearly for the errors.

Turnbull said his squad made mistakes and didn't execute, but added that such problems can be corrected.

``Two of the goals came from defensive errors, but those are things that can be cleaned up,'' Turnbull said.

Play turned ugly for the home side after the third Australian goal. The Canadian defence sagged and the Matildas missed several other easy scoring chances.

Black made it 3-1 in the 57th minute, easily dribbling past central defender Janine Helland before chipping the ball over goalkeeper Nicci Wright.

Moments later, Canadian substitute Liz Smith hit the crossbar and then missed an open net. It was that kind of game for the Canadians.

``They had some opportunities and they scored,'' said striker Isabelle Harvey, a five-foot-two dynamo from Cap-Rouge, Que. ``I think we had more opportunities.

``I think we can beat this team. We'll see on Saturday.''

Canada had most of the play in the first half but trailed 2-1 after a Black goal in injury time. Black came in down the right side, fought off a Canadian defender and hammered the ball past Wright.

Australia went ahead 1-0 in the eighth minute after a Canadian defensive miscue. Black took the ball from a Canadian and sent a cross to the right, where several teammates awaited. The ball came down to Alici Ferguson, who volleyed it home. Canada was down to 10 players at the time, with Jeanette Hass receiving treatment off the field.

Harvey, who often looked dangerous, almost tied the game four minutes later when her shot hit the crossbar. In the 24th minute, Harvey did make it 1-1 following a free kick. The ball found its way to Harvey, who turned and volleyed a beautiful right-footed strike into the goal.

Turnbull rested three players with hamstring problems: Silvana Burtini, Isabelle Morneau and Andrea Neil.

Both teams were coming off losses to Brazil and the U.S. in Portland, Ore. Canada lost both games 4-2 while the Australians were beaten 4-0 by the Americans and 3-1 by Brazil.

The Canadian losses came after a pair of wins over Mexico.

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