The Matildas are confident the depth in the squad will be enough to earn them qualification to the Olympics as they prepare to face Uzbekistan in a two-leg playoff for a place in Paris.
The Matildas, currently ranked 12th in the world, finished fourth in the 2023 Women’s World Cup on home soil and fourth in the Tokyo Olympics – their best-ever finish in both competitions.
The team is intent on not just qualifying for a fifth Games, but are eyeing a first-ever medal in Paris when the competition kicks off in late July.
But first they have to get past world number 47 Uzbekistan, with the two teams meeting on Saturday night in Tashkent before the second leg in Melbourne next Wednesday.
While the Matildas are overwhelming favourites against the surprise package of Asian qualifying, there are big questions over the team’s attacking make-up given the absences of captain Sam Kerr and talented winger Cortnee Vine.
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Kerr tore her ACL last month at a Chelsea training camp in Morocco, and will be ruled out for the remainder of the club season – and almost certainly the Olympics given the typical nine-month minimum recovery time for a major anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation.
Vine, meanwhile, withdrew from the qualifiers for personal reasons.
Vine scored the winning penalty against France in the quarter-final shootout at last year’s World Cup, shooting her to instant stardom.
And though she hasn’t been in top form this A-League Women season, the 25-year-old has still amassed five goals and three assists in 13 matches so far and remains one of the Matildas’ best wingers.
Replacing Vine in the squad is 24-year-old Western Sydney Wanderers striker Sophie Harding, who has surged into career-best form this season with nine goals and two assists in 16 matches.
Harding was born in England moved to Sydney when she was six, and played for the Newcastle Jets for two seasons before making the move to Western Sydney in 2022.
She found out about her maiden Matildas call-up while working a 10-hour shift.
“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.”
Eligible to play for England – her birth nation – as well as for the Republic of Ireland through her grandparents, selecting the up-and-coming forward to secure her international allegiance appears a smart call from Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson.
In the absence of Kerr, Gustavsson also turned to Michelle Heyman of Canberra United – the 35-year-old forward leading the A-League Women scoring charts this season with 12 goals and five assists in just 16 matches.
Heyman last played for the Matildas in 2018 before retiring from international football after missing out on a place in the Women’s World Cup the following year, but is now in line for a 62nd appearance in the green and gold.
“With Sam unavailable, Kyah [Simon] coming back from injury … we were looking at who’s the best next No 9,” Gustavsson said. “The way Michelle has played, she deserves to be selected – it’s purely performance.
“I’ve said a lot of times, it’s not about your age, it’s about the quality you have as a footballer – whether you’re 17 or 35. Heyman has played herself into this team the way she is playing, she’s in tremendous form and she’s scoring for fun.
“And we also feel playing this type of qualifiers, when we think we’re going to play against a very, very well organised Uzbekistan is going to be difficult to get in behind. We need an in-and-out pure No. 9 in the box that needs half a chance to score. And that’s Michelle, the form she’s playing with right now.”
“I feel like I’m 21 again, it’s a great feeling,” Heyman said. “It’s been six years since I’ve put on the green and gold and to get this call-up … it’s changed my life.
“When I retired I really needed a break and back in 2019 you couldn’t use the words ‘mental health’. Since 2020 coming back into the A-League Women, I’ve loved every minute and it sparked that fire in my belly to get back into the squad.”
She added: “It’s really sad news for Sam. That’s how my career started back in 2010 – Sam did a knee and I got her spot – so it’s a surreal, weird feeling that this has happened again.”
The absence of talismanic striker Kerr and Vine is a significant blow to the Matildas ahead of their meetings with Uzbekistan, but also presents a strong opportunity for both fresh faces and old – Harding and Heyman respectively – to stake their claim in the squad.
And the Matildas have demonstrated they can perform without Kerr, as they were forced to do at last year’s World Cup.
Kerr’s calf strain on the eve of the tournament opener saw her ruled out of the Matildas’ first three games before two substitute appearances and two starts later in the tournament.
But in the absence of Australia’s all-time top scorer, the Matildas’ other attackers proved they could shine.
Manchester City’s 21-year-old Mary Fowler took a major step up, while veterans like Hayley Raso (Real Madrid), Caitlin Foord (Arsenal), and 139-cap Emily van Egmond (San Diego Wave) all played a key role.
It was that quartet that ran riot against Canada in a decisive World Cup group stage win.
But when the two teams met again twice in December, the Matildas lost twice while attempting to implement a new style of possession football. Whether that approach is adopted against Uzbekistan – and the Olympics, should we qualify – will be a key talking point.
“We are all heartbroken for Sam and shocked and devastated when she did her ACL,” Matildas defender Alanna Kennedy said.
“It’s a blow for us but we take confidence in the World Cup we had,” the 29-year-old Manchester City star added.
“I have confidence in the squad that we have. For other players it’s an opportunity to step up and show what they can do as well.”
Should the Matildas beat Uzbekistan on aggregate across the two matches, Gustavsson faces an incredibly difficult challenge of trimming his 23-player down to 18 for the Olympics.
And so the players are not just out to book the Matildas’ place in Paris across this two-match home and away series – they are also fighting for their own Olympics ticket.
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“Everyone’s striving towards the same achievements, and especially for us as a team, for us it’s to qualify for Paris. It’s a smaller roster than it was at the World Cup,” van Egmond said.
“I think everyone’s in a position now where it’s a challenge and it’s competitive, and at the end of the day that’s what you want as a national team; you want the most competitive squad that’s available.”
For Gustavsson and the Matildas, the focus is on getting the job done and qualifying for the Olympics.
But how they do so will go a long way to addressing the looming problem of fighting for an Olympic medal without the team’s greatest-ever scorer.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uzbekistan v Australia
Date: Saturday, 24 February 2024
Kick-off: 2.00pm (local) / 8.00pm AEDT
Venue: Milliy Stadium, Tashkent
Australia v Uzbekistan
Date: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Kick-off: 8.00pm AEDT
Venue: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
FULL SQUAD
Mackenzie Arnold, Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley (c), Kyra Cooney-Cross, Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Katrina Gorry, Charli Grant, Sophie Harding, Michelle Heyman, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Chloe Logarzo, Aivi Luik, Teagan Micah, Clare Polkinghorne, Hayley Raso, Amy Sayer, Kaitlyn Torpey, Emily van Egmond, Clare Wheeler, Jada Whyman, Tameka Yallop,
