Matildas winger Hayley Raso puts herself in World Cup reckoning just months after breaking her back
Hayley Raso only returned to the field six weeks ago after she suffered a broken back while playing in the US. Now the Matildas winger has shot herself into World Cup reckoning.
Hayley Raso was sitting on the Matildas bench waiting for her moment - if one could call it sitting.
For a young woman who couldn’t so much as walk down a hospital corridor a few months back, the petite 24-year-old was a bouncy, fidgety ball of energy itching to get on the field at Leichhardt Oval, the venue of her return to international football.
“You sit on the bench and you’re just always hoping to get on,” Raso said.
“As soon as I heard my name get called I just wanted to go out and make a bit of an impact.”
That’s something of an understatement.
Raso’s first touch against New Zealand was almost a goal.
Her second and third beat two defenders; the fourth dispatched the ball cleanly into the back of the net.
For many, a goal to ice a 2-0 win is something to celebrate.
For Raso, it was a 31st cap she worried might never come after fracturing three vertebrae last August playing for Portland Thorns.
Since that day the lightning-quick winger has slowly re-learned how to sit up, then take tentative steps on a walking frame.
After that came one day of taxing rehab after another before finally making her W-League comeback for Brisbane Roar six weeks ago.
Even then, the World Cup she’d worked towards for four years remained an uncertainty.
“Initially I didn’t think I’d make a comeback at all, so I’m just proud of myself for getting through it all and being here again,” Raso said.
“Now I just look forward to getting more minutes and playing more for my national team, because that’s ultimately where I want to be, at that World Cup.
“With my rehab and recovery I’m just pushing forward now. I’ve played my first game back for my club, and now for the national team, and scoring a goal just topped it off for me.
“It was just excitement I think, I was overwhelmed.”
Nicknamed ‘Ribbons’ for her trademark hair trimmings, Raso’s chances of turning out for Australia in France this June have risen exponentially.
And not only because of her recovery, but also due to the uncertainty around Chloe Logarzo’s injury, along with new coach Ante Milicic’s declaration that positions are essentially there for the taking.
“She did her chances no harm tonight,” Milicic said after the game.
“That’s what we expect from substitutions, particularly a front-third player - to be direct, it was a good finish.
“Her injuries have been well documented but that’s in the past, she has to move forward and she has done.
“She’s been great at training and I think that’ll do a lot for her confidence and she deserved it.”
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