Matildas must set their ‘own standards’ against New Zealand in Canberra

If Australia wants to win next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil, a tougher preparation is needed, according to Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson.

The Matildas want tougher opposition ahead of next year’s World Cup. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has called for Australia to play the world’s best teams – not New Zealand – to properly prepare for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Matildas meet the Football Ferns in the second match of a two-game series in Canberra on Tuesday night, having beaten the Kiwis 2-1 in Townsville last week.

While the Matildas dominated the match, they needed goals in stoppage time from star pair Emily van Egmond and Sam Kerr to avoid an embarrassing result against the world’s 22nd ranked women’s football nation.

Gustavsson wants faster movement of the ball on Tuesday night, but while another win would be a confidence boost, New Zealand isn’t an opponent which will provide Australia enough of a test ahead of next year’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by both nations.

“I’ve said it from day one that one of the things that was identified before I even came (into the Matildas coaching job) was the results against top-ranked nations,” Gustavsson said.

“From 2011 to 2020, those 10 years (if) you look only at tournament games against top-ranked nations, you will see really bad stats, to be really frank and honest.

“We need to play those top nations more to be prepared the next time we play them.

“Statistically, the expectation has been that we win a lot of games, but we have played too many low rank teams in the past, in my opinion, to be prepared for tournaments.”

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson wants tougher opponents for his team. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Gustavsson’s wish for matches against the world’s leading women’s football is likely to be granted in international windows later this year.

In the meantime, he said the Matildas must remain “humble” against New Zealand and set their “own standards”.

“You also need to have variation in the scheduling,” Gustavsson said.

“You need to play as many unique opponents as possible with different tactics, a different physical approach and then also when you look at a calendar over a year, it’s also about availability.

“There are a lot of World Cup qualifiers going on … (and) there’s a lot of scheduling going on.

“Who’s available and ready to come to Australia to play? Who’s available when we play teams in Europe?”

Gustavsson said a “dream scenario” on Tuesday night would be a comprehensive win both on the park and the scoreboard.

“But we need to be humble and realise it’s a completely new game and New Zealand is probably going to learn from the first game as well … and maybe throw something else at us.

“We need to adjust to that … take the good stuff, but also some learnings from the first (game) and do even better.”

Matildas v New Zealand

Tuesday, 7.45pm

GIO Stadium, Canberra

Live on 10 Bold