Matildas v England FIFA World Cup semi-final 2023: Will Sam Kerr start against England?
Tony Gustavsson has extraordinarily declared two England players will have a target on their backs as Australia looks to replicate its April victory in the World Cup semi-final.
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The Matildas will target two specific English players who they believe are vulnerable in any defensive system, coach Tony Gustavsson has revealed.
It’s understood one of those players will be defender Jess Carter, who Australia repeatedly isolated in their friendly match in April, when winger Hayley Raso gave her nightmares down the right touchline.
In an extraordinary proclamation on the eve of the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final in Sydney, Gustavsson said his team would be peppering two rival players who he saw weaknesses in when the sides played four months ago, without specifying who the two are.
On that occasion, the Matildas were without star players Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Alanna Kennedy but still won 2-0.
“When we played them last time we got a good transition game going, but I know that England learned a lot from that game,” Gustavsson said.
“If you saw England playing Nigeria - that is also a very good transition team – England played much more direct than what they normally do so I think they’ve evolved and adjusted their game plan a bit so they’re not just possession based, especially if they choose to play with a back three and two nines that [are] willing to run in behind.
“It will be an interesting tactical game in that sense, is England going to stay true to their possession game? Or are they going to take away our transition game by playing a different style of football than they normally do?
“We’re prepped for both systems, that they can play 4-2-3 and 3-5-2. We’ve also played three different systems in this World Cup so we might be flexible and do something different as well.
“There are some players that, no matter what system they play, they have the very same tendencies.
“And when we played them last time we managed to target specifically two of those players, and we benefited from that tactically.
“So we looked into those nuances and those individual behaviours a little bit more now, instead of the system, and hope that we can target that tomorrow as well.”
Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold said that friendly match was crucial for her development in the international arena.
“The friendly we played against them earlier in the year was probably a game where I was only just coming into the starting team, and I think that was the game I really gained a lot of confidence from,” Arnold said.
“It brought into the fact that I am quite familiar with how they play, their tendencies - that helped me a lot to settle the nerves. I pay against them week in, week out. It’s something I was used to, I think you can take a lot of confidence from that for sure.”
The United States are the only host nation to have won a women’s World Cup – and that was in 1999.
“This team has shown time after time after time, they are ready and willing to break down barriers and write history, and if that’s one more to check, I think the players are ready to do it,” Gustavsson said.
He also gave an insight into what his final words may be before his players take the pitch at a packed out Stadium Australia.
“I’ve coached clubs as well but tournament football is completely different, it’s about finding a way to win the game that is right in front of you,” Gustavsson said.
“We know playoff games, from experience, go all the way in tournaments.
“If you look at the games I was involved with, normally it was a PK (penalty kick), it was extra-time, or a set-play, or 1-nil or 2-1, extremely tight games, which is what it will be tomorrow as well.
“All it takes is one moment, I know that from experience.
“That’s why I need to plan in every single moment out there, whether it’s defending a set play, or you lose the ball and are defending in transition, or whether it’s attack goal or one-on-one duel, one moment can be the decider whether you win or lose.
“You need to live in every single moment, because that’s how small the margins are in a semi-final or a final.”
While England have won all five of their games in the tournament so far and are favourites with bookmakers, coach Sarina Wiegman shut down any notion of favouritism.
“I don’t think Australia are the underdog, they are playing at home and the stadium will be very full,” Wiegman said.
“There’s two teams that are very strong and have grown into the tournament, it’s going to be very tight and competitive.
“We approach the game as any other game, we prepare how we want to play and analyse our opponent really well so we can hopefully expose some weaknesses.”
MATILDAS GIVE STRONG HINT KERR WILL START
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.
An early good luck to the @TheMatildas
— David Warner (@davidwarner31) August 15, 2023
Just keep an eye out in case the Poms ask to change the ball 🤣🤣🤣 @TheBarmyArmy
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.
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
Originally published as Matildas v England FIFA World Cup semi-final 2023: Will Sam Kerr start against England?
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