Alex Chidiac has arguably become Australia‘s gamechanger in chief.
If the team is looking sluggish, or is need of an energy burst off the bench, Chidiac is injected and is instantly electric.
The beauty of being able to call on Chidiac is that she isn’t just providing energy — although she absolutely does deliver it in spades. Her run and harrying are complemented by smarts and technique. She will put in the through ball, press from the front and annoy tired defences, take the shot, break the lines, and follow through.
She’s become so good at this game-changing role that Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson seems wedded to utilising her exclusively as an impact sub; she’s almost a victim of being too good at her job.
Everyone who watches Chidiac in a Matildas shirt can see the undeniable value she offers as an option off the bench. But the player herself never thought she could execute this kind of role.
“I never thought that I would be able to be one of those players that had an impact coming off of the bench,” Chidiac told ESPN’s The Far Post podcast.
“I think, typically, when you looked at it, people that were coming off from the bench, they have a really big presence. They’re super fast, they changed the game instantly. And I never really saw myself as that kind of player.
“But slowly within the Matildas setup, I kind of figured out pretty quickly, I was going to have to give everything in the time that I got and treat it like, mentally in my head, I’m starting a game. I have to really go in there and fight and do what I can in that time, and slowly and slowly, I got given more minutes, and then it kind of led to the 45 minutes against Jamaica.
“So, I think it helped me kind of get that realisation of ‘No, I actually can do this.'”
– Subscribe to ESPN’s Women’s Football Podcast: The Far Post
Chidiac’s honesty is refreshing and isn’t just limited to her use as a substitute. Her assessment of her status within the Matildas set up and what she needs to do to ensure she is consistently selected for the national team is similarly candid.
“If my role is going to be coming off the bench and being able to make an impact, then I just need to make that role my own and make sure that, when [Gustavsson’s] looking at the bench, I’m the first one that he wants to put on,” she said.
“Obviously, I’m still going to be in the background pushing for a starting spot. But I also am very conscious of whatever’s best for the team. I want to be in the team, I want to go to the World Cup. So if that’s what my role is going to be, then I will play that the best I can.”
Wanting to go to the World Cup isn’t a new or particularly surprising aspiration but in the context of Chidiac’s career it makes a lot of sense that she is taking a “whatever it takes” approach to making the final 23.
Chidiac missed out on selection for the 2019 Women’s World Cup after featuring in squads in the lead up to the tournament. It’s unsurprising that the omission is driving the midfielder forward four years later.
Part of that drive for the World Cup squad has seen Chidiac return to Louisville, Kentucky, for her second season with Racing Louisville in the NWSL. For the last two years the Adelaide-born midfielder has split her time between Melbourne Victory in the A-League Women and Racing.
