Tony Gustavsson says all the pressure is on “favourites” England as his team prepare to make history. The Matildas coach also provided an astonishing Sam Kerr update.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has dropped the biggest hint yet that superstar striker Sam Kerr will again come off the bench in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against England as he declared one team is “going to write history”.
Captain Kerr missed the group stage after suffering a calf injury on the eve of the tournament and player her first minutes for the but returned for the final few minutes against Denmark in the Round of 16 in a signal her injury had healed.
She then came on after 55 minutes in the pulsating quarter-final penalty shootout win over France that saw Australia book its place in the final four for the first time, slotting a penalty and racking up significant game time as the match went to the full 120 minutes.
The temptation is to rush her back for the biggest game in Australian football history, but Gustavsson is likely to hold her back with the coach keen to have his best players on the pitch when the game is on the line poting to “chemistry” being crucial.
It also helps that young gun Mary Fowler has been in stunning form for the Matildas which will give Gustavsson confidence that there are other players who have the talent and belief to get the job done without Kerr being the lone threat.
“When it comes to Sam, she pushed through more minutes than we initially hoped for,” he said.
“One of the reasons we kept her on the bench was that we were uncertain how many minutes she had (in her) coming back from the calf injury and the limited training she had.
“The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive, both from a mental and physical aspect.
“She recovered well and she trained today so she’s available.”
Gustavsson has had the luxury of using a settled line-up throughout the tournament, but Aussie fans hoping for an early squad announcement will have to wait until Wednesday night with a final meeting with his staff to decide the starting line-up.
“I think consistency and chemistry is key for any team that wants to be successful in tournaments, and availability is another thing that’s key to be successful in tournaments,” he said.
“I have some tough decisions to make tonight because we’ve got a lot of players who are available.
“What we’ll do is look to start as strong as possible but finish even stronger, meaning we have to look at what starting line-up we have but also what kind of finishing 11 we want to have and what kind of tools and game-changer we want to have in a game like this.
“We need to think of the type of player, whether that’s speed or people with aerial ability, so there’ll be some long conversations tonight because a lot of people deserve to start, but a lot of people also deserve to finish the game and win it for us.”
The Matildas will start outsiders for the game at Accor Stadium against the fourth-best team in the world, and while Gustavsson concedes England have plenty of strengths, he says the hosts have one major advantage that can get them over the line.
“If you look at rankings, they’re the favourites,” he said.
“If you look at where their players play, they have starters playing in top clubs in top leagues all over the world. Not just the starting 11 – they have 15 or 16.
“And you compare that to us where we have bench players in those teams, we have players in the A-League and we have players playing in mid-table teams in Sweden, so if you look at all that and you look at resources financially, then they are a massive favourite going into this game.
“But, if you then add the belief we have and the one thing they don’t have, which is the support and the belief from the fans.
“That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow.”
Words by Martin Gabor
POMS FURY AS MATILDAS FANS ‘STEAL’ WORLD CUP TICKETS
Women’s World Cup semi-final tickets intended for England fans have been snatched up by Aussies – meaning less than 10 per cent of the crowd is likely to be English.
The Lionesses claimed their spot in the final four with a 2-1 win over Colombia on Saturday.
They are now set to face tournament co-hosts Australia at the 83,500-seater Accor Stadium in Sydney.
An additional 1,970 tickets – solely intended for England fans – were released over the weekend in preparation for the clash.
The Football Association provided the access code ‘Lioness’ exclusively for those supporting Sarina Wiegman’s side.
However, a number of Australian fans have used the code to buy tickets instead.
The FA’s access code was allegedly leaked on a Facebook group for fans of the Matildas.
And barely any England supporters were able to get tickets as a result.
One Aussie took to social media to brag: “Scored these English supporter tickets too last night. Proudly going to be wearing our Matildas gear.”
Meanwhile, England fans were left livid after discovering that the tickets had been snatched up.
One person vented: “I’m actually raging. I hope anyone that has a ticket in those sections gives them as much s*** as possible! So livid.”
FIFA expect there to be around 8,000 England supporters – less than 10 per cent of the stadium capacity – at Wednesday’s semi-final.
However, it is unlikely that figure considers the amount of Australia fans that have bought tickets in the England section.
Despite the overwhelming support for Australia expected at the Accor Stadium, Lauren Hemp insists that it will spur the Lionesses on.
Following Saturday’s win over Colombia, the England forward said: “We’re all so excited. As a group we thrived off the amount of Colombian fans.
“It just makes it so much more exciting so for me I can’t wait to get going against Australia.
“It’s going to be a packed out stadium with so many Australian fans but we know if we play at our best, we are unstoppable so hopefully we’ll be able to bring that.”
Originally published by The Sun
BRUTAL SNUB: MATILDAS HERO LEFT OUT IN COLD
She was the Matildas hero in goal on Saturday night pulling off three miracle penalty saves to help Australia secure a World Cup semi-final berth but goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has been hit by the most brutal of snubs.
Life as a goalkeeper is already one of solitude on the pitch, now Arnold has been left out in the cold by merch makers with her No 18 jersey unavailable for fans to buy.
While Nike sells the goalkeeper shirt for international men’s teams like Barcelona and Chelsea, merchandise for the Matildas is limited to the team’s yellow and gold home stadium shirts and teal colourway for away games. Fans from other soccer teams have also revolted against Nike and Adidas for not producing goalkeeper shirts.
It’s a stopper thing apparently with all player shirts available to buy except anyone in goal.
England’s Mary Earps went nuclear on Nike before the tournament because her shirt was not readily available. The English sensation even offered to fund it herself – to no avail.
Last month Earps said she had been “fighting behind closed doors” to find a solution with the FA and sport giant Nike.
“I have been trying to go through the correct channels as much as possible,” Earps said pre-tournament.
“Which is why I have not spoken on it publicly – even though I have been asked a lot about it over the past few months – because I have been desperately trying to find a solution with the FA and with Nike.
“Unfortunately, it has become very evident that is not possible and there is not going to be an acceptable solution for the young kids out there. On a personal level, it is hugely hurtful considering the last 12 months especially. There has been an incredible rise in goalkeeping participation.”
Fans have revolted against Nike and Adidas for not producing goalkeeper shirts.
One petition on Change.org has received more than 38,800 signatures in under a month, with fans calling on Nike to produce the kit for Earps.
Nike has been contacted for comment.
NEVER HEARD OF THE MATILDAS: SHOCK STATS EXPOSE FA
Hayley Raso? Mackenzie Arnold? Katrina Gorry?
Never heard of them.
That was the common response from more than 1200 Australians asked to recognise our most famous female athletes just two months ago.
How quickly the landscape changes. Not only are the trio now household names, but their Matildas teammates will be far higher up the list today than in June when only Sam Kerr featured in the top 20.
And Monash University’s sports expert Dr Tom Heenan says Kerr’s calf injury at the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the greatest factor in the soaring profile of other players.
“The main reason I think they weren’t recognisable is that a lot of them play overseas and don’t get the coverage back in Australia, and all the initial coverage in Australia was of Kerr,” Dr Heenan said.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
ENGLAND ARE ANGRY
WOMEN’S World Cup semi-final tickets intended for England fans have been snatched up by Aussies – meaning less than 10 per cent of the crowd is likely to be English.The Lionesses claimed their spot in the final four with a 2-1 win over Colombia on Saturday.
They are now set to face tournament co-hosts Australia at the 83,500-seater Accor Stadium in Sydney.
An additional 1,970 tickets – solely intended for England fans – were released over the weekend in preparation for the clash.
The Football Association provided the access code ‘Lioness’ exclusively for those supporting Sarina Wiegman’s side.
However, a number of Australian fans have used the code to buy tickets instead.
The FA’s access code was allegedly leaked on a Facebook group for fans of the Matildas.
And barely any England supporters were able to get tickets as a result.
One Aussie took to social media to brag: “Scored these English supporter tickets too last night. Proudly going to be wearing our Matildas gear.”
Meanwhile, England fans were left livid after discovering that the tickets had been snatched up.
One person vented: “I’m actually raging. I hope anyone that has a ticket in those sections gives them as much s*** as possible! So livid.”
FIFA expect there to be around 8,000 England supporters – less than 10 per cent of the stadium capacity – at Wednesday’s semi-final.
However, it is unlikely that figure considers the amount of Australia fans that have bought tickets in the England section.
Despite the overwhelming support for Australia expected at the Accor Stadium, Lauren Hemp insists that it will spur the Lionesses on.
Following Saturday’s win over Colombia, the England forward said: “We’re all so excited. As a group we thrived off the amount of Colombian fans.
“It just makes it so much more exciting so for me I can’t wait to get going against Australia.
“It’s going to be a packed out stadium with so many Australian fans but we know if we play at our best, we are unstoppable so hopefully we’ll be able to bring that.”
Originally published by The Sun