Australia coach apologises to fans after 3-0 humbling by Germany

 (Reuters) - Australia coach Tony Gustavsson apologised to the fans back home who woke up at 3 am to watch their national team at the Olympics only to be left disappointed when Germany thumped the Matildas 3-0 in their group opener.

The defeat could have been a whole lot worse had the 2016 champions converted their chances and the manner in which Australia crumbled does not bode well for a team that reached the semis at the Tokyo Games and at their home World Cup last year.

"I just want to say I'm so sorry to let down the fans back home that put their alarms on at 3 am in the morning to get up and support us," Gustavsson said.

"It's just amazing to see the support back home and I know we disappointed a lot of people.

"Congratulations to Germany, they were a class better than us, that's just facts. You can clearly see that Germany were up to the speed of international football."

Australia's Steph Catley is captaining the side in the absence of injured regular skipper Sam Kerr and she said the defeat was a "wake-up call" after they conceded from set-pieces.

"We conceded two set pieces. We are usually much, much better on set pieces," she said.

"It is not to our standard and we need to be better for the next game and turn this tournament around."

Despite the setback, Gustavsson implored fans in Australia to continue supporting the team when they take on Zambia in their second group game in Nice.

Qualification from the group will not be easy with the United States also in Group B, with the Americans also winning 3-0 against Zambia.

"Please set the alarm for the next game as well because the players feed off the support they get. Hopefully we can make them proud against Zambia," he added.

"I think we needed that as a wake-up call to say, 'OK, now we're in it'. Hopefully that was the rusty performance we needed to get it out of the system and then come back against Zambia."