{"id":601333,"date":"2026-04-12T03:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T03:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/601333\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T03:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T03:56:09","slug":"matildas-thump-malawi-to-kick-off-fifa-series-in-kenya-leticia-mckenna-scores-on-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/601333\/","title":{"rendered":"Matildas thump Malawi to kick off FIFA Series in Kenya, Leticia McKenna scores on debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Matildas have cruised to a 5-0 win over Malawi to kick off their FIFA Series in Kenya.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Taking on world number 153 at Nairobi&#8217;s Nyayo National Stadium, veterans Sam Kerr and Emily van Egmond netted in the first half before Alex Chidiac, Holly McNamara and debutant Leticia McKenna completed the rout.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Chidiac, who was a member of the Asian Cup squad but did not play a minute of the tournament, was named player of the match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Captain Kerr was subbed out at half-time for Remy Siemsen, as coach Joe Montemurro mixed in some newer faces with his Asian Cup finalists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">McKenna was the newest of the lot and the Melbourne City star kicked off her international career in style with a stoppage-time goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Hayley Raso pounced on a wayward Malawi pass in midfield and found McKenna with a neat through ball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">McNamara, who scored late in regulation, was charging forward alongside her but McKenna opted to drill a ball low into the left corner of the goal before being swamped by her teammates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">It wrapped up a joyous day for the Australians, which started when van Egmond, the most capped Matilda in history, latched onto a free-kick that was taken quickly and surprised the defence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Van Egmond got a touch with her right foot around Madise Chimwemwe to poke home her 33rd international goal.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hayley Raso signs autographs after a Matildas game against Malawi in Nairobi, Kenya.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/53c96d7552a2aa31afb5977c80ae8eba.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The fans appreciated a little extra attention from the players, including Hayley Raso. (Getty Images\/FIFA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Kerr made it 2-0 in the 41st minute when goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo missed a Caitlin Foord cross and Kerr cleaned up, and she thought she had a double just before half-time but it was ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Montemurro shuffled his team around the hour mark, when Chidiac ended a three-year international drought before swapping out for McNamara, who latched onto fellow substitute Jamilla Rankin&#8217;s low cross as regulation time wound down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">McKenna ended the game in fitting fashion before the players stuck around to sign autographs for fans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Matildas will take on hosts Kenya next, kicking off at 12:30am AEST on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Matildas have cruised to a 5-0 win over Malawi to kick off their FIFA Series in Kenya.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,277115,596,28526,34534,293059,165999,44964,61950,44965,13198,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-601333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fifa-series","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-joe-montemurro","13":"tag-kenya","14":"tag-leticia-mckenna","15":"tag-malawi","16":"tag-matildas","17":"tag-nairobi","18":"tag-sam-kerr","19":"tag-soccer","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}