What off-season? After Sydney FC host Chelsea at ANZ stadium on Tuesday night, the men’s game will take a break for a few weeks before the likes of Real Madrid, Roma and Manchester City touch down. In the meantime, the women’s game is just getting started.
The Women’s World Cup kicks off in Canada on Saturday, with the Matildas beginning their campaign against world number two USA on Monday.
Coach Alen Stajcic has taken a squad combining youth and experience to North America, and spirits are high, despite Australia being paired with the formidable USA and Sweden.
The Matildas have won three matches on the bounce – if you don’t count the 1-1 draw with China behind closed doors a few days ago – and have come out on top in five of their last seven since the Cyprus Cup defeat to England.
With confidence at a premium, there is plenty of reason to get around this World Cup juggernaut. Here are a few things to look out for over the coming weeks.
The great servants
There have been many distinguished players to pull on the green and gold over the years. Cheryl Salisbury – the most-capped Aussie female with 151. Amy Wilson – the starlet who retired at just 23 with two World Cups under her belt. Kate Gill – the Matildas’ greatest ever goalscorer who was omitted from the travelling party this time around in a sign of the current squad’s strength.
And the 2015 edition of football’s showpiece will again hold aloft three of Australia’s greatest ever servants. Co-captains Clare Polkinghorne and Lisa De Vanna, as well as goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri, form a spine of experience that will be critical in the quest to conquer Canada.
With 259 caps between them, these three will be instrumental in leading this team to glory. Although Barbieri faces immense competition from Mackenzie Arnold and Lydia Williams to get on the pitch, her selection would have been a no-brainer for Stajic, who realises the 35-year-old has much more to offer than her prowess between the sticks.
The next generation
That trio will be tasked with leading a talented crop of players at the other end of the spectrum. Versatile attacker Larissa Crummer checks in as the fresh face of the squad at 19 years old, with the fewest caps in the lineup.
She’s joined by 20-year-olds Hayley Raso and Caitlin Foord, though it feels as though the latter is a veteran, having made her international debut at 16.
With an average age of 23, there is plenty of energy in the Matildas’ fold, the bulk of which will arguably still be in the picture for the 2019 edition in France.
Even more promising is that many of the young guns went into the 2011 World Cup with little international experience and still held their own. It’s exciting to consider what they might achieve after four years of growth.
The best team ever?
Lisa De Vanna is never short of a dose of positivity. And her latest pep talk in the media certainly offered high praise to her teammates.
“It’s the best squad I’ve played with but we’re playing with even better opposition now,” she said. “I look back at 2007, and if we had the team we had now playing, we would have won the Cup.
“We’ve got the football brains, we’ve got the skills, and I personally think we can match up with any team in the world.”
Perhaps this is the best Matildas team of all time, the case is favourable on paper. But the time for talk is now over, and that bold statement will be put to the test over the next month.
The underdogs
The Matildas aren’t favourites to nab one of the two automatic qualification spots from a tough group.
With USA and Sweden both inside the top five, many expect Stajcic’s side to simply be one of the four best third-place finishers and navigate a path to the knockout stage that way.
It’s the sort of complacency that will allow the Matildas to thrive. Our gaffer definitely isn’t scared:
“It’s a group of death for us, but it’s a group of death for Nigeria, Sweden and America (too),” Stajcic told The World Game.
The pitch
There has been a murky undercurrent in the build-up to the Cup, with the artificial turf debate being run and lost.
It’s the first time the tournament will be played on the surface, with a lawsuit against the decision proving fruitless.
This is @DrinkBODYARMOR athlete @sydneyleroux after playing on turf! #ProtectTheAthlete #USWNT http://t.co/e5NhMgwkCq pic.twitter.com/5jFpl12L8j
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) August 13, 2014
The injury statistics for female players on the surface are alarming, as USA striker Sydney Leroux will testify to.
It will have coaches sweating throughout the tournament and players reigning in the slide tackles.
Watch this space.
Every World Cup match will be televised on SBS.
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