Milicic crucial to Matildas’ 2023 World Cup success
Matildas stalwart Clare Polkinghorne says the retention of coach Ante Milicic is crucial to Australia’s chances of winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil.
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Matildas stalwart Clare Polkinghorne says the retention of coach Ante Milicic is crucial to Australia’s chances of winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil.
Milicic reportedly has three weeks to decide whether he will remain Matildas coach for next year’s Olympic Games and the 2023 World Cup or stay committed to his three-year contract with Macarthur FC, who join the A-League next season.
Macarthur seems adamant the former Socceroos striker will honour his deal and released a video on Saturday on their club website featuring Milicic discussing plans for next season.
Milicic spoke of Macarthur starting training in September ahead of the December kick off of the 2020-21 A-League season, as well the likely impact of COVID-19 on the salary cap, squad sizes and player movements.
“But I’m really comfortable with the space that we are with our squad, and now we’re starting to pick up again,” he said.
“We’ve signed nine players. There’s four or five of those that are Australians that are playing in Europe and actually haven’t played in the A-League.
“I’ve got a decent database of players that I’ve worked with who fit into my way of playing … so really comfortable where we are as a squad, but now’s important that we keep building on that.”
However, former Matildas captain Polkinghorne, who remains a key member of Australia’s backline, hopes Milicic can be convinced to continue his Matildas journey that started in February last year following the controversial sacking of previous coach Alen Stajcic.
“Ante staying would be ideal,” said the experienced defender, who added that continuity was vital to the Matildas’ hopes of winning the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“He’s been in charge for not much time so the girls are starting to really buy into what we’ve been working on and the way that he wants to play.
“The more time we have together as a group, and the continual improvement on the things we’ve been working on, the better we’ll be.
“As a group we’re definitely happy with what we’ve got in place at the moment, and hopefully they (FFA and Macarthur) can come to some sort of agreement.
“But whatever happens, we’ve got to take it in our stride and make sure as a group we’re still working towards the same goals no matter who’s in charge.”
Polkinghorne, capped 125 times for the Matildas, said a strong W-League would also be critical to Australia’s hopes of success in 2023.
“We’ve got to make sure we have a good foundation for the national team and that’s our domestic league,” said the 31-year-old Brisbane Roar captain who soon heads to Norway for a stint with Avaldsnes.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement in the W-League, and now’s the time to do it.
“We need to play more games. We don’t even play every team twice, so for the integrity of the whole league, you need to be playing each other at least twice.
“There are definitely solutions. We just need to make sure we find the right ones that are for the better of the game.”