Matildas pushing for more warm-up matches as World cup looms
Fresh from a maiden win at the first time of asking, new Matildas coach Ante Milicic is blazing full steam ahead organising logistics around a pre-World Cup training base in Croatia, Spain or Portugal.
The Matildas are set to play two final warm-up friendlies in Europe during the fortnight before the World Cup, as Ante Milicic hustles to finalise plans for the team’s pre-tournament camp.
Fresh from a maiden win at the first time of asking, Australia’s new coach is blazing full steam ahead organising logistics around a training base, which is still to be confirmed due to the delay that came with Alen Stajcic’s untimely sacking.
Time is of the essence for Stajcic’s replacement, newly appointed and with only 97 days until the Matildas kick off their campaign in France against group opponents Italy, Jamaica and Brazil.
With Thursday night’s 2-0 opening win over New Zealand done, there are currently only three other fixtures locked in - the remaining Cup of Nations ties against South Korea and Argentina followed by an away clash with the world No.1 US.
Milicic said he was in the process of securing an additional two hit-outs to fall just before the World Cup.
“When I’m looking at the release dates of the players and when our first game is, I think two will be enough,” Milicic said.
“We’re working through that at the moment. We’re just looking at possibilities, where we’re going to base ourselves as well.”
Milicic had been eager for the squad to congregate in Croatia, where he lives, however it’s believed Football Federation Australia is up against it to find the right accommodation during the peak summer period at this late stage.
Spain and Portugal are understood to be the other options, with Milicic keen on setting up somewhere on the coast partly in the interests of team morale.
“Obviously looking in Europe, I want to minimise the travel, not only for the girls when they get there but also for the girls (playing in) America when they come across,” he said.
“We’ve been working on that for about a week now, we’ve got a few options and I’m hoping to at least confirm a couple of sites by the end of this week, and myself and the team manager can go over and have a look at them.
“When we talk about improvement I’m really looking forward to that pre-World Cup camp.
“I feel this team has got a lot of improvement, quality, I think it can go to another level with a good block of a couple of weeks prior to a major tournament.”
Just as integral will be the speed with which the group adapts to their new mentor’s football philosophy.
Milicic was wary of overloading his players with new information leading into the New Zealand game, but felt he’d already witnessed “a clear, distinct playing style”.
He was happy with the rotating front three and the playing out from the back, but is looking for quicker ball movement against world No.14 South Korea at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
New skipper Sam Kerr was “super stoked” with their first crack at the Milicic way but agreed there was room for improvement.
“You could see we’ve already adapted really well to one-touch play … it was really crisp and fast.” Kerr said.
“It was so much fun and I’m so excited for the next six months, it’s going to be an unbelievable journey.
“He’s a really smart guy. Literally every single thing he knows what’s happening and he’s controlling, and he’s teaching as he goes.
“We were saying on the bench we don’t think Ante would have seen how good we really were because everyone was nervous, myself included.
“But we felt we had his trust from the get go so it was really good.”
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