Emily van Egmond ready for battle with Uzbekistan despite being in pre-season mode with her American club
A key Matildas star isn’t concerned by her lack of games as she prepares for the Olympic qualifying battle with Uzbekistan.
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Matildas stalwart Emily van Egmond is adamant she can overcome a lack of competitive football to help Australia clear its final hurdle on the qualifying road to this year’s Paris Olympics.
The Matildas meet Uzbekistan in a two-legged, home and away battle starting in Tashkent on Saturday night and ending at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Wednesday week.
The aggregate winner will qualify for Paris, where the Australians hope to medal after finishing fourth at last year’s Women’s World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.
In the absence of the injured Sam Kerr, van Egmond’s chances of starting for Australia against Uzbekistan have improved.
It was a similar story at the World Cup, where the versatile 30-year-old San Diego Wave started in four matches as Kerr recovered from a calf injury that limited her involvement in the tournament.
Van Egmond hasn’t played a competitive match since her short A-League women’s guest player stint with the Newcastle Jets ended in late December.
The Wave’s American National Women’s Soccer League campaign doesn’t start until next month, but van Egmond is confident she will be “sharp” for Australia’s two-legged battle with the Uzbekistanis.
“We’ve had a couple of scrimmages here – it’s a grind here in America,” she said.
“It’s always a tough pre-season. Every single time you go through a pre-season here you’re coming out in pretty good shape so I’m not too worried about my sharpness at the moment.”
Despite being capped 139 times in a remarkable Matildas career that started when she he was just 16, van Egmond won’t take a spot at the Paris Olympics – should Australia qualify – for granted, particularly with squads being made up of only 18 players.
“It’s a smaller roster than the World Cup and everyone is in a position now where it’s a challenge and it’s competitive,” she said.
“That’s what you want from a national team. You want the most competitive squad that’s available.
“You’ve just got to continue to keep working hard. Every single person who is going for a position on that Olympic roster will be doing exactly that.”
Van Egmond said while she was “devastated” for Kerr, who also won’t play at the Olympics – if Australia qualifies – after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, the Matildas had a “job to do” without their captain.
“We want to give Sam as much space and privacy as she needs as she is going through her rehab with her ACL,” she said.
“We’re all behind her but at the same time for us as a team, we’ve got a job to do.”
Originally published as Emily van Egmond ready for battle with Uzbekistan despite being in pre-season mode with her American club
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