New Matildas coach Ante Milicic signs on for mission improbable

Ante Milicic is a singularly brave man, judging by a key line in the advert for the job to which he has been appointed.

New Matildas coach Ante Milicic. Picture: Getty Images

• Matildas go for fresh start with World Cup specialist
• Grassroots football hits crisis point

Ante Milicic is a singularly brave man, judging by a key line in the advert for the job to which he has been appointed.

Among the KPIs for the man officially announced yesterday as the new Matildas boss is a stark outcome: “Achieve agreed tournament result at the WWC France 2019."

No doubt exactly what that target is will remain a tightly guarded secret, but in the court of public opinion, realistically anything short of winning the World Cup will leave people wondering “what if” in the wake of Alen Stajcic’s termination.

Taking over a dressing room still in shock at what happened to his predecessor, with days to prepare his team for a high-profile series of games starting next week, and knowing the background of how the vacancy came about, all make Milicic’s decision to accept the role a brave one.

New Matildas coach Ante Milicic. Picture: Getty Images

The fact he didn’t actually apply for the role, but was approached by Football Federation Australia as his existing employer, simply adds to the level of scrutiny on the role.

All this for a figure taking over his first senior head coaching role, but seemingly tasked by FFA’s board of directors with the major cultural reset sought of a national team, according to the tweets of one of those board members.

His first duty will be to announce the squad for the Cup of Nations next week, a group of players scouted by his assistant Gary van Egmond and technical analyst Kate Cohen and whom Milicic is said to have spent the last few days frantically assessing.

With so little time to prepare the team, it will be fascinating to see what level of ambition Milicic employs in terms of developing a style that FFA figures privately say had grown stale.

They also noted the drop-off in results over the past year, so it will be equally fascinating to see what weight is placed on winning the three games in the Cup of Nations.

And on winning the actual World Cup, of course.

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Originally published as New Matildas coach Ante Milicic signs on for mission improbable