As of Tuesday, the FIFA Womens World Cup is just 100 days away – one of the biggest sporting events ever to be held on Australian soil.
On Wednesday morning (AEDT), the Matildas’ preparations for their bid for glory on home soil (the tournament is being co-hosted with NZ) take a massive step up with a blockbuster clash with England.
An understrength Australian side fell to a 1-0 defeat to Scotland – a team that failed to qualify for the World Cup – on Friday night. A series of familiar problems resurfaced as a seven-match winning streak came crashing to a halt.
Now, the world number 10 Aussies face off against world number four England in arguably their toughest test in years – where an upset victory could demonstrate that the Matildas are genuine contenders for the World Cup.
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Coach Tony Gustavsson labelled the Lionessess the “team in the world to beat” on the back of a 30-game unbeaten run. That remarkable streak was capped off on Friday by victory for the European champions over South American champs Brazil in the first-ever Women’s Finalissima in front of 83,132 fans at Wembley Stadium.
England are firmly among the favourites to hoist the most cherished silverware in the game, the Women’s World Cup, with a star-studded attack and depth that makes selecting a 23-player squad for the tournament a headache-inducing task.
“Thirty games unbeaten, they play modern football with high intensity, extremely high tempo in everything they do. Their pressing game is fantastic, and their goal movement brilliant,” Gustavsson said.
Defender Charli Grant similarly said: “England is going to be a really exciting challenge for us to see where we’re at especially so close to a World Cup.
“I think they definitely have probably one of the best forwards in the world at the moment and that’s going to be a really good challenge for our backline but also they’re great defensively to see how well they’ve done in the Euros and even recently in friendly matches.”
By contrast, the Matildas are currently battling a host of injuries, with Gustavsson stating he is missing ‘eight to 10’ players for the massive clash.
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Captain Sam Kerr missed the defeat to Scotland for unnamed reasons and remains under some doubt for this clash.
The likes of veterans Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Emily Gielnik, Elise Kellond-Knight, Alanna Kennedy, and Chloe Logarzo were ruled out of these friendlies through injury. Emily van Egmond and Holly McNamara were sent back to their clubs over the weekend after also suffering injuries.
Gustavsson said: “We’re not going to shy away from this challenge, it’s the toughest maybe ever since I came on board, and all these players won’t shy away either. That’s who they are.”
It is the final match before Gustavsson names his 23-player squad for the tournament proper, and could well provide a harsh lesson. Of course, all that matters is whether the coach and team learn those lessons by the time it really counts.
Kerr hopes World Cup delivers dreams | 01:18
England vs CommBank Matildas
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium, London
Kick-Off: 4:45am, Wed, 12 April (AEST)
Broadcast: Network 10
LIVE BLOG
Follow the action in our live blog below from 4.45am AEST. If you can’t see the blog, click here.