Matildas coach Alen Stajcic wary of ‘tricky’ group at Rio Olympics but says side has medal ambitions

PICKING up an Olympic medal in Rio remains the goal, but Matildas coach Alen Stajcic admits that’s going to be a tricky task after finding out who stands in their way.

Kyah Simon, Lisa De Vanna and Steph Catley on top of the world at Sydney Tower after the Matildas qualified for the RIO Olympics and were greeted by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnball. Picture: Adam Taylor

PICKING up an Olympic medal in Rio remains the goal, but Matildas coach Alen Stajcic admits that’s going to be a tricky task after finding out who stands in their way.

Ranked No.5 in the world, the Matildas were drawn in the same group as Germany, Canada and outsiders Zimbabwe. The top two teams automatically progress, but Stajcic says there’s no point in looking past the group stage in what’s bound to be a difficult campaign.

“It’s very tricky. Obviously navigating your way through the group is step number one, and a big step, but having a look at some of the possible combinations of who we could play in the quarter-finals, there’s a big chance we could play the USA or France, or even Brazil or Sweden,” Stajcic said.

Matildas (l-r) Kyah Simon, Lisa De Vanna and Steph Catley.

“Getting a medal is a fantastic goal for our team and one that we’re definitely striving for, but it’s not going to be an easy goal and it’s not going to be something that is going to be handed to us. We’re going to have to fight hard and I’m sure if we do that we give ourselves every chance. I think we can be one of the best teams in the world and we’re certainly progressing down that track, but it’s not going to be easy. Getting through the group is the first step and that’s a big enough challenge.”

While he knows more or less what to expect from Germany and Canada, Stajcic admits Zimbabwe presents an unknown challenge. Fortunately it’s their final match of the group stage, so they would have seen how African nation fared against the other two countries first.

“(Zimbabwe) are probably the surprise package to get here, but an unknown quantity,” Stajcic said. “The fact that they beat out teams like Nigeria and Cameroon, who I thought were exceptional at the World Cup, shows that they’ve got something. The tricky part for us is that they’re an unknown quantity.

“The group is very challenging. I’m pretty sure it’s the only group with three top 10 teams in there, but we manage to do that all the time. We all know Germany have been the world champions and No.1 ranked team, they’ve been in the top two for probably the last 10 or 15 years, so definitely along with America they are one of the two superpowers of women’s football.”

But Stajcic believes the Matildas are also on their way to becoming one of the world’s very best.

“I think we’re on the verge of becoming a truly world class team and by that I mean winning medals at Olympics and World Cups,” he said. “When I first started, nearly two years ago now, our objective was to become a world class team and a top three team. That’s the pressure we put on ourselves internally - we’re striving to become a world class team.”