Rio Olympic qualifiers: Matildas to give skipper Lisa De Vanna night off against Vietnam

MATILDAS captain Lisa De Vanna will take a well-earned break from the next match in Australia’s Rio qualifying effort after scoring against Japan.

Matildas rest De Vanna for next step to Rio

THE gruelling schedule means inspirational Matildas captain Lisa De Vanna will more than likely be rested for Wednesday’s match against Vietnam on the road to the Rio Olympics.

Australia pulled off a shock by beating Japan 3-1 in their opening qualifying match in Osaka, with the experienced De Vanna instrumental by scoring one goal and setting up another.

But with four more games remaining in just eight days, the 31-year-old says she is expecting to sit out tonight’s encounter with a view to return for the third match against South Korea on Friday night.

De Vanna opens the scoring for Australia against Japan.

“I think part of the plan for Staj (coach Alen Stajcic), obviously being the old girl in the team, recovery is probably the biggest thing,” De Vanna said.

“It means I’ll probably be sitting out the Vietnam game, which is a good thing because then I’ll probably be more fresh to play South Korea.

“But that’s me talking — Staj might have a different plan. He says you might be a regular, but if I don’t play you it might be a tactical move. At this stage I’m available for South Korea, whether I start or come on will be up to him.”

With only the top two teams in the six nation tournament qualifying for Rio, the Matildas are already in the box seat and goalkeeper Lydia Williams says mental preparation for the remaining games will be the key

Fortunately, the team has their World Cup experience to fall back on.

“While we were in Canada, with all the hype about us being in the ‘group of death’ and how we progressed out of that, I think that’s really set us up in our mental ability and strength for this tournament,” Williams said.

Australia's forward Lisa De Vanna.

“We all celebrated the victory (against Japan) but right now everyone is recovering and getting ready for the next game. I think a lot of it is going to be a mental battle, but what we’ve achieved over the past year or so has really helped us and put the platform for this tournament.”

The Matildas are fortunate in that Stajcic has enough depth to rotate the players for each game, but the medical staff will still be working overtime to manage their recovery.

“I think the medical staff are going to be working around the clock to make sure that we’re okay,” Williams said.

Australian players celebrate their first goal scored by Lisa De Vanna during the AFC Women's Olympic Final Qualification Round match between Australia and Japan.

“We have a lot of video analysis people here with us, so they do the job to fix the technical side of things, but definitely the medical staff are there to help with our bodies and recovery.

“I think the good thing that Staj has built is a team of depth — we saw girls come onto the field (against Japan) that started in the World Cup, but also now they can be used either as a starter or substitute. That’s going to be a real test to see how we go leading further on in the tournament.”

Originally published as Rio Olympic qualifiers: Matildas to give skipper Lisa De Vanna night off against Vietnam