Italy to unleash darks arts on Matildas

If the Matildas want to weave some magic against Italy they’d better prepare for a lesson in the dark arts, says legend Cheryl Salisbury.

Matildas star Sam Kerr will be heavily marked by the Italians

If the Matildas want to weave some magic against Italy they’d better prepare for a lesson in the dark arts, says Cheryl Salisbury.

Le Azzurre are the first team standing between Australia and the Women’s World Cup. And while their 20-year absence from the tournament renders Ante Milicic’s side favourites in Valenciennes on Sunday, the world No 15 outfit shape as a potential banana skin.

Part of the reason lies in the flashes of renewed verve shown since coach Milena Bertolini took over in 2017. The other, according to our most capped player, is the country’s customary capacity for gamesmanship.

All but one of Italy’s squad plays in the women’s Serie A, with eight lining up for current champions Juventus.

“What the Italians are good at is playing the game,” Salisbury told The Australian. “They’ll try and slow the game down, they’ll try and stop the momentum.

“We’ve got the fitness and athleticism to keep going, so when the ball goes out the Italians will probably kick it away.

“They’ll go down on the ball and then roll around in front of the ball to stop a free-kick.

“Those sorts of things will come into play, being the country they are and the history of the game. I played them in my last game and they still did the same thing, they’re not going to change in those aspects.

“To beat the Matildas they need to slow the game down because the Matildas love that high intensity.”

Objective No 1 for any opponent will be to mark Sam Kerr out of the game, a tactic the Netherlands employed with relative success in the weekend’s 3-0 friendly loss. That task could well fall to Italy captain Sara Gama, the central defensive veteran of 95 caps.

“Most teams will go out to try and isolate Sam and cut that service off to her,” Salisbury said.

“Sam is the strike force for the Matildas, you take her out of the scenario and suddenly that ability we’ve had in the past to pick up goals from crosses and things like that (is diminished).

“If you isolate Sam Kerr, if you track her runs, if you don’t give her any freedom, she’s not going to be able to score goals.

“The one she did put in against Holland she was off-side, that’s because the Dutch defensive line stayed together as a line.”

Salisbury will be part of Optus Sport’s coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which will show all games live and be free to all Australian schoolchildren.