Football Australia’s long-running search for the next Matildas coach is drawing to an end, with Joe Montemurro set to be appointed – while former Socceroos boss Graham Arnold is reportedly in line for a shock move to Iraq.
Montemurro has been FA’s top target in their eight-month hunt for a permanent successor to Tony Gustavsson, a process which has been so protracted that players have expressed their concern about “wasting time” and feeling in “limbo” ahead of their home Asian Cup campaign next year.
But the wait may be worth it. Network 10 commentator Andy Harper, speaking on Saturday night’s A-League Men coverage, claimed that Montemurro – who has been in charge of leading French club Olympique Lyonnais since June – was “locked in” and would be unveiled in the coming days or weeks.
Sources contacted by this masthead, who were not authorised to speak publicly about the courting of an under-contract coach, were not quite so definitive, but said that it was inevitable that FA would get their man, and that a formal agreement was close to being reached.
Montemurro did not respond to messages. While he has played down links to the Matildas in recent press conferences, he told this masthead last month that he had held “positive discussions” with FA and did not rule out the possibility of leaving Lyon to return to Australia, saying: “Never rule out anything in football, mate.”
Lyon had their UEFA Champions League hopes extinguished last week, losing their semi-final 5-3 on aggregate to Arsenal, meaning that star Matildas trio Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-Cross will feature in the final on May 24 in Lisbon against Barcelona. However, the club – long considered the standard-bearers in women’s football – has clinched top spot on the Premiere Ligue ladder and are considered hot favourites to be crowned champions in the competition’s Australian-style play-off series, which will begin next week.
Joe Montemurro. Credit: Getty Images for APL
Montemurro, 55, has previously won league titles in England with Arsenal, Italy with Juventus and Australia with Melbourne City in the A-League Women. If confirmed, he will be tasked with delivering the Matildas their first major honour since the 2010 Asian Cup, but will have only 10 months to prepare ahead of the 2026 edition of the tournament, which kicks off on March 1 in Perth.
The Matildas have friendlies in Melbourne and Canberra scheduled on May 30 and June 2 against Argentina, but it is not expected that Montemurro will be in charge for them, with interim boss Tom Sermanni to lead the team one last time.
Meanwhile, reports from the Middle East suggest that Arnold – who stepped down from the helm of Socceroos in September, following a disastrous start to the third round of World Cup qualifying – is the front-runner to take over as Iraq’s national team coach.
Arnold has been linked with several roles since then but has only worked as a goalkicking mentor for the NRL’s South Sydney Rabbitohs. However, he is now poised to take on a role which could put him in direct competition with Australia, having reportedly agreed to terms on a deal that could see him take charge of Iraq through to 2027, depending on how they fare in their next World Cup qualifiers.
Until recently, sources say, Arnold had a clause in the terms of his release from his contract with FA which barred him from taking on another job with an Asian rival. However, that clause has expired, freeing him up to join Iraq, who sacked their Spanish coach Jesus Casas last month, citing an unexplained “serious breach of contractual obligations”, with just two matches remaining in the current stage of World Cup qualifying.
The ‘Lions of Mesopotamia’ sit third in Group B, one point behind second-placed Jordan, with two matches to come next month: away to top-placed South Korea and then at home to Jordan in a match that is likely to decide which of the two clinches a direct spot at the 2026 World Cup.
If Iraq finishes third or fourth in their group – and the Socceroos fail to secure a top-two position in Group C from their upcoming qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia – there is a chance that Arnold could go head-to-head with his replacement Tony Popovic in the fourth round of World Cup qualifying in October.
Arnold did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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