After a tough learning curve for a young squad at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, Takakura’s troops have their focus firmly on this year’s Olympics.

FIFA.com sat down with the former midfielder and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup-winning coach to discuss last year’s “disappointing” World Cup, and welcoming the world to Japan for Tokyo 2020.

Group winners in the previous round in Sydney, Milicic has rewarded his players by selecting an identical squad which claimed big wins over Chinese Taipei (7-0) and Thailand (6-0) before being pushed to the limit in a 1-1 draw with China PR.

A supremely disciplined Steel Roses side came within 120 seconds of pulling off a shock away win against the World Number 7 Matildas, only to be denied by Emily van Egmond’s superb injury-time equaliser, which lifted the Australians above the Steel Roses on goal difference.

Having overcome all manner of obstacles to advance from Group B of the Final Round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers in Sydney over the past week, the Steel Roses came within two minutes of securing top spot with a shock win over Australia.

A spirited, disciplined performance looked to have paid dividends when Tang Jiali put China ahead in the 86th minute, only for Emily van Egmond’s rocket in the third minute of added time saving the day for the hosts, whose draw was enough for them to top the group on goal difference.

A terrific Tang Jiali strike four minutes from time looked to have sealed a superb win for the Steel Roses, but an equally brilliant added time strike from Emily van Egmond gave the Matildas the draw they needed to win the group on goal difference.

Australia’s final position on the group table means they will face Vietnam next month for a place in Tokyo, while China’s Olympic dream depends on a two-legged contest against Korea Republic.

From giving up hosting rights of the tournament due to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, to being confined to a Brisbane hotel for over a week – with no access to the training pitch - for precautionary quarantining, China PR’s build-up to the tournament in Sydney has been anything but smooth.

Even after arriving in the host city, unrelenting rain forced Jia Xiuquan’s staff into a revised training programme, but the team has looked superb on the pitch, storming to a 6-1 win over Thailand before backing it up with a 5-0 success against Chinese Taipei.

While both sides have already sealed their places in the final play-off round, top spot of Group B in the AFC Women’s Olympic Tournament remains up for grabs in Thursday’s encounter and Logarzo believes the Matildas will be anything but complacent at Western Sydney Stadium.

“No. Actually, for the first time going into a major tournament, I don’t think there is any complacency,” said Logarzo, who scored the opening goal in the last meeting between the sides; a 2-0 Australian win just under two years ago.