Brisbane, Australia — Having the Women’s World Cup on residence soil has given Australia’s staff the boldness it will probably contend for the title even with out star striker Sam Kerr on the sphere.
The Chelsea ahead and Australian captain missed the Matildas’ opening recreation final week due to a calf muscle damage that may also hold her sidelined for Thursday’s Group B recreation in opposition to Nigeria. And maybe longer than that.
The Matildas are pitching it as an opportunity to indicate the depth of their squad.
“I think we could play any one of us right now in the starting 11 and it would be the same as what we do on the training pitch,” midfielder Tameka Yallop mentioned from Australia’s staff camp in Brisbane. “So I think everyone has that ability and capability to step up and be a star at any point.”
Steph Catley, carrying the captain’s armband rather than Kerr, transformed a penalty kick for co-host Australia’s 1-0 opening win over Ireland. Despite the win, the Matildas’ offense struggled to create scoring alternatives, with solely two photographs on track.
Against a Nigeria staff that held Canada to a scoreless attract its Group B opener, Australia might want to show that it has gamers all through the staff that may be difference-makers in Kerr’s absence.
“I think we’ve got the best squad that we’ve had,” Yallop mentioned.
Building depth has been a precedence for Tony Gustavsson all through his first three years answerable for the Matildas. Shortly after he was employed, a December 2020 efficiency report launched by Football Australia confirmed this system had the least general depth of the 12 main nations analyzed.
The Matildas’ struggles to interchange injured defender Clare Polkinghorne in the course of the 2019 Women’s World Cup contributed to their exit within the spherical of 16, their worst end since 2003.
To put together for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the Matildas emphasised the event of younger gamers. Gustavsson’s staff has come a great distance, and the expansion of Cortnee Vine, Mary Fowler, Clare Hunt, Mackenzie Arnold, Charlotte Grant and Kyra Cooney-Cross into beginning 11-caliber skills offers the staff confidence shifting ahead.
The staff knew it had the depth essential to contend on the world stage in April when it beat European champion England 2-0 in a pleasant.
“That’s the game where we all felt like it really clicked,” Grant mentioned. “It’s amazing that we’ve built so much depth over the past one to two years.”
Australia’s win over England featured a purpose from 21-year-old Grant and noticed Australia use 9 gamers who didn’t play within the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Gustavsson’s willingness to provide younger gamers minutes in huge video games fueled the staff’s perception within the skill of every member of the squad.
Fowler and Vine are among the many gamers being thrust into key roles in assault. The return of Yallop and Grant from damage and sickness for the Nigeria recreation gives a lift in opposition to an opponent that annoyed Olympic champion Canada.
During the Cup of Nations in February, seven totally different Australian gamers scored in three video games.
“I think that’s why we’re so dangerous,” midfielder Katrina Gorry mentioned. “You never know where the goals are going to come from.”
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Luke Winstel is a pupil on the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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