Matildas news: Michelle Heyman opens up on Australia recall ahead of Olympic qualifier against Uzbekistan
Michelle Heyman did not depart the Matildas squad on good terms five years ago – she was mentally and physically exhausted – but drastic changes mean she is ready to give it another shot.
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Six years after she felt she was sacked by the Matildas, Michelle Heyman can hardly believe her international career has been revived as coach Tony Gustavsson gambles on experience to offset the devastating loss of Sam Kerr.
Gustavsson confirmed one of the biggest selection shocks in Matildas’ history on Wednesday, when he recalled the 35-year-old A-Leagues Women’s striker with a view that Heyman could potentially fill an attacking void left by captain Kerr’s unfortunate ACL injury.
While Kerr is irreplaceable, Gustavsson showed he can orchestrate solutions from within his squad during last year’s World Cup when Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso and Mary Fowler formed a deadly attacking trio in her absence with wins over Canada and Denmark.
Whether Heyman fits into Gustavsson’s starting XI for the upcoming Olympic qualifiers with Uzbekistan remains to be seen, with the squad of 23 still to be trimmed to 22 before the February 24 encounter in Tashkent and second leg at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on February 28.
Gustavsson said it was hard to ignore Heyman’s efforts in the A-Leagues this season. She is leading the golden boot race with 10 goals and also became the first women’s player to net more than 100 goals in the competition.
With Kerr out with an ACL and Melbourne City rising star Holly McNamara succumbing to the same injury – Gustavsson said he had to find a new number 9.
“The way Michelle has played she deserves to be selected,” Gustavsson said.
“It’s purely performance and I’ve said that a lot of times throughout the three years here that for me it’s not about age, it’s about the quality you have has a footballers, whether you are 17 or 35 it doesn’t matter, if you have the quality you deserve to be selected and Heyman has played herself into the team.”
A DREAM RETURN
During her five years on the sidelines Heyman watched plenty of changes occur within the Matildas set up – now after thinking she would never get the chance – the striker is experiencing them for herself.
Despite spending nearly a decade with the Matildas Heyman’s first day of her revived national career has been filled with firsts – a team announcement at Federation Square, a long list of media commitments and the prospect of playing in front of a sold out stadium in Melbourne in just three weeks time.
Well these seem like normal things to today’s Matildas, it was far from the way things were done when Heyman made her debut in 2010.
After spending one day as a modern Matilda Heyman said the differences were huge.
“The amount of media that we’ve had is completely different to the time that I was in the Matildas,” Heyman said.
“I’ve been chatting with the girls and Chloe (Logazro) has been filling me in on how different things are going to be for me when I step into camp. I’m really looking forward to the professionalism and just being part of it all again.”
Even the prospect of playing in front of a sold out crowd at Marvel Stadium is foreign to Heyman.
“I’ve never had that,” she said.
“To be on home soil and to get a crowd like that. I remember sitting in the stands watching the Women’s World Cup and being like ‘wow’. It brought tears to my eyes to see so many supporting the girls and a stadium like that being packed.
“So to now be able to run out on the field with friends and family in the stands it’s going to be an incredible feeling and something that I am super grateful for because I didn’t really know if it would ever happen again.”
Heyman played 61 matches for Australia, scoring 20 goals. She was part of the squad at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
She was at the 2018 AFC Asian Cup but didn’t get on the field due to a knee injury.
It was the beginning of what Heyman thought was the end of her national career.
Heyman said she felt the camp environment was not conducive to a high performance team and it took a toll on her mental health- forcing her to take a year out of the sport after her retirement.
The cultural issues experienced within the camp led to the sacking of then coach Alen Stajcic and later in 2019 the Smith-Gander review.
It was the review which led Football Australia to adopt a player centred approach to care.
Heyman has watched from afar as the Matildas flourished under the new model – her former teammates turned close friends telling her things were different now.
The internal cultural shift led to improved results on the pitch – with the FIFA Women’s World Cup the final ingredient to elevate the Matildas to being one of the nation’s most loved sporting teams.
Being recalled to the squad was something Heyman said she had always hoped would happen. Similar to how everyone hopes they might win the lotto.
“It’s been at the back of my mind,” Heyman said.
“I didn’t want to put it out into the world because of heartbreak and being told no constantly.
“So I wanted to put my best foot forward and my main focus was on Canberra and making sure I played well. I hoped playing well in the A-Leagues would help my chances with the Matildas.
“It was always there but I just tried not to show it.”
WILL SHE GO TO PARIS?
The call up for this qualification series doesn’t guarantee Heyman a spot in the Olympic squad should the Matildas qualify. Gustavsson is only allowed to take an 18-player squad into the Games.
But Heyman said it was hard not to contemplate the possibility of getting to play at another Olympics.
“It’s in the back of my mind, of course,” Heyman said.
“But right now I think the main focus is getting into camp and just seeing where I am at and I think that is going to be a big eye opener for myself. To be able to be truthful with who I am as a player. It’s time to give it my all and just focus on the games at hand.”
Despite her run of form the selection news still took Heyman by surprise.
“It’s a great story. I was at a recovery lab where I work and I was in an ice bath,” Heyman said.
“I was trying to do my recovery after the game and I was just going through my emails and I saw a congratulations email.
“I literally jumped out of the ice bath, got dry, jumped in the car and drove to my partner’s work and just stood out the front of her pilates studio waiting for her to finish her shift so I could just hug her and it was really surreal.
“I had tears, I’m just really grateful for the opportunity.”
While it is a very new look squad with a new coach Heyman is confident she will have no issues slotting into the side and doing the task Gustavsson is asking of her – score goals.
“I know the style of play, I know the girls so well. So I don’t think it’s going to be a challenge in that aspect. I know everyone within the system and I’m excited to play with this talent and put my flair in this team,” Heyman said.
The 35-year-old said there had been times since leaving the national team where she questioned why she was still playing and juggling a second job in order to pay the bills.
“I am grateful I stuck to it and the hard work has definitely paid off,” she said.
“I really believe that I deserve this spot and a chance to give it a go.”
MATILDAS SQUAD: OLD FACES RETURN TO COVER DISASTROUS KERR LOSS
A-Leagues hero Michelle Heyman has been called up to replace Matildas’ injured striker Sam Kerr for the do-or-die Olympic qualifiers later this month – six years after being forced out of the national team.
She isn’t the only A-Leagues star earning a call up to the 23-woman squad for the games against Uzbekistan, with Chloe Logarzo and Kaitlyn Torpey also named in the side.
Australia must win the series in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics, which start in July.
Coach Tony Gustavsson was forced to change up the squad with Kerr tearing her ACL last month and defender Charlie Rule suffering from a hip injury.
Fan favourite Alex Chidiac has been dropped due to low match minutes and Courtney Nevin was looked over in favour of Torpey. It’s no surprise to see Kyah Simon left off the squad after only just returning to the pitch for the first time in over a year two weeks ago.
Goalkeeper Lydia Williams is also out after having ankle surgery last week, opening the door for Jada Whyman who has impressed between the sticks for Sydney FC this season.
“It’s been one of the longest breaks between national camps in a very long time, since the November window against Canada,” Gustavsson said.
“So it’s been a long time scouting, looking at the roster and evaluating the World Cup year but also looking into the qualifying campaign coming up.
“We want to have some continuity, but we also looked at form and playing time and players that are performing right now. Then obviously we had to consider the injury situation.
“It’s been a tough challenge to be honest and a tough couple of phone calls to make to call some players that haven’t been selected for the first time in a very long time but players that have been selected deserve to be selected in this case.”
MICHELLE HEYMAN
Heyman, 35, hasn’t played for the Matildas for six years.
The striker has had a standout season in the A-Leagues for Canberra, leading the golden boot race with 10 goals.
Heyman became the first woman to score more than 100 goals in the A-Leagues earlier this season.
She retired from international football in 2019 saying her body could no longer cope with the demands of high-level football. But last year she revealed to Code Sports that was just a face-saving excuse she gave to cover the fact she had been fired from the national team.
Heyman has scored 20 goals across her 61 outings in the green and gold.
Gustavsson said with Kerr out injured and rising star Holly McNamara also ruled out with an ACL injury he had to find the next best option to play striker.
“The way Michelle has played she deserves to be selected,” Gustavsson said.
“It’s purely performance and I’ve said that a lot of times throughout the three years here that for me it’s not about age, it’s about the quality you have has a footballers, whether you are 17 or 35 it doesn’t matter, if you have the quality you deserve to be selected and Heyman has played herself into the team.
“She is in tremendous form. She’s scoring for fun.”
Gustavsson said Heyman’s technical ability would also work well against Uzbekistan who are expected to be difficult to break down.
“We need a pure nine in the box that needs half a chance to score and that’s Michelle,” Gustavsson said.
CHLOE LOGARZO
Logarzo, who narrowly missed selection in the Matildas FIFA Women’s World Cup team due a foot injury and her ACL recovery, is flying for Western United.
She has scored five goals across 14 matches and has played a vital role in getting Western United up to second place on the competition ladder.
Gustavsson said he was “really excited” to be able to put Logarzo back on the roster.
“When she gets into that mindset and she has the physically capacity to be Chloe 100 per cent,” Gustavsson said.
“You can see how she has performed right now, her runs off the ball, her tackles, her one on ones, defending and attacking, her scoring ability or ability to get in the box or runs in behind the backline.
“To look at the type of opponents we are playing that is very well organised and plays very physical – we need players on the park that can get into the box and be first on the ball.
“She has worked a long time to get back to where she needed to be and her professionalism and her character has gotten her back to where she is now.”
KAITLYN TORPEY
Torpey was a key part of Melbourne City’s impressive form this season and has just this week signed a record transfer deal with San Diego Wave, where she will play alongside Emily van Egmond.
The 23-year-old has worked her way up into the senior squad after impressing in the A-Leagues and the Under-23’s national team.
“After coming back from injury last year she has been phenomenal,” Gustavsson said.
“She has speed with technique, she can play the seven or 11 for us out wide or she can play as an attacking outside back for us.
“She’s confident on the ball, she’s aggressive and has speed.
“Her next step is to see if she can bring that to international level because everything is going to be faster.”
THE GAME
Gustavsson is far from thinking the game won and the qualification earned – he is so cautious of Uzbekistan he said he hadn’t even allowed himself to think ahead to the Olympics.
The Matildas have played Uzbekistan just once before, back in 2007 – Australia won 10-0.
Gustavsson is expecting a very different game this time around.
Uzbekistan is ranked 47th in the world. They put up a tough fight to reach this stage of the qualification. They beat Vietnam and India and only lost 2-0 to Japan.
“We as a team need to be boring and say let’s focus on qualifying first because we really need to respect this opponent,” Gustavsson said.
“They only lost 2-0 to Japan. They beat a lot of Asian teams, they’ve been in a long camp, a month, preparing for this qualifier.
“We have a job to do and it isn’t going to be an easy one.”
Gustavsson is predicting an organised side who will be very hard to break down – meaning chances will be slim and must be finished when created.
The first leg of the two-match series will be played in Tashkent on February 24 at 8pm (AEDT). The Matildas will then jet back to Melbourne for the second match on February 28, at 8pm (AEDT).
Originally published as Matildas news: Michelle Heyman opens up on Australia recall ahead of Olympic qualifier against Uzbekistan
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