By Vince Rugari
The news
Cortnee Vine has withdrawn from the Matildas squad for the team’s upcoming Olympic qualifiers against Uzbekistan due to personal reasons, Football Australia has announced.
No further details were provided, and her place in coach Tony Gustavsson’s squad will be taken by uncapped forward Sophie Harding.
Cortnee Vine takes the decisive penalty for Australia during the World Cup quarter-final.Credit: Getty
Vine, who plays for Sydney FC in the A-League Women, scored the winning penalty in Australia’s marathon quarter-final shootout against France at last year’s Women’s World Cup, turning her into a national icon overnight.
Why it matters
Vine, 25, is one of Australia’s best wingers – and with skipper Sam Kerr currently sidelined with an ACL injury, it means Gustavsson’s attacking options for these crucial fixtures has been further eroded.
While Vine hasn’t been at her absolute best in the A-League this season, she has scored five goals and provided three assists for her teammates.
Who is Sophie Harding?
Harding, 24, plays for the Western Sydney Wanderers and is the equal second-highest goalscorer in the competition with nine goals – three behind Canberra United’s Michelle Heyman, who has earned a recall to the Matildas and looms as the out-and-out replacement for Kerr up front.
Harding was born in England but moved to Sydney aged six and has previously played in the A-League for the Newcastle Jets before shifting to the Wanderers in 2022, where she has hit career-best form. She played her junior football for Manly United.
“It’s obviously extremely exciting, something I’ve dreamed about for a very long time,” Harding said in a video on the Wanderers’ website. “Sometimes it didn’t really seem achievable … I was very overwhelmed, I actually burst out laughing [when I got the call] because I was so shocked.
“I’m going to go in there super positive and learn as much as I can from these players - they’re some of the best female players in the world so just playing around them is such a privilege.”
What next?
The Matildas will assemble for a camp in Dubai on Monday and will travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan the day before the first leg of their Olympic qualifier on Saturday night.
The second leg will be played at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Wednesday 28 February.
The winner on aggregate over the two legs will book a spot at Paris 2024. Uzbekistan are ranked No.47 in the world by FIFA and the Matildas are expected to comfortably account for them, but they loom as a tricky opponent.
The challenges associated with travelling to central Asia will be new to some of the players in the squad - including Harding and Daniela Galic, the 17-year-old Melbourne City ace who will join them as a train-on player, which Football Australia also announced on Thursday.
Watch every match of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League on Stan Sport. All the action streaming ad-free, live and on demand, with select matches in 4K UHD.