Key posts
It’s snowing in Tashkent!
The match hasn’t even started but it’s already created Australian football history.
How, I hear you ask?
Well. It’s snowing in Tashkent. And never before have the Matildas or Socceroos played in snow – at least according to Football Australia’s statistics guru Andrew Howe, and if anyone would know, it’s him.
The Olyroos (the men’s under-23s side) have, though. And in fact, they were in Tashkent, playing a qualifier for the London Olympics in 2012, according to ex-media manager Ben O’Neill. So there you go. Thanks, Ben.
According to Google, it’s currently 1 degree in Tashkent – so cold that the Matildas abandoned the team walk this morning, we’re told. They’re in for a fairly massive change in temperature when they get to Melbourne, where it’ll be in the mid-30s come the second leg.
Want more? Have a read of this
If you’re looking for a bit of a deeper dive on tonight’s match, check out this thing I wrote looking at five of the biggest questions surrounding it.
Because of the aforementioned team news, a couple of items have been answered and/or proved wrong. You should know that going in. That’s the game sometimes.
Who’s your tip?
Team news: Torpey in, Foord out
Tony Gustavsson has named his starting XI and it looks very, very familiar – except for the No.20 jersey, which is normally worn by injured skipper Sam Kerr.
Instead, defender Kaitlyn Torpey is wearing it. She will become the 227th player to represent the Matildas in an ‘A’ international, and the 22nd to have debuted under Gustavsson.
Torpey is 23 and, until recently, played in the A-League for Melbourne City. Earlier this month she was bought by San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League, where Emily van Egmond also plies her trade.
Gustavsson has named four other defenders – the World Cup starting combination of Ellie Carpenter, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy and Steph Catley – so it remains to be seen where Torpey fits into the puzzle and what formation they actually go with. Perhaps Catley will be used further forward on the left?
The other shock: Caitlin Foord is on the bench. We are told it is a load management decision – she’s been playing a lot of football for Arsenal of late – and not because she is carrying an injury.
Torpey will be the only debutant tonight. The other uncapped player in Australia’s squad, Sophie Harding, has not been named in the match day squad – only 22 players can be put down on the team sheet, and the squad is 23, so someone was going to miss out.
G’day everyone
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of tonight’s Olympic qualifier in Taskhent. I am Vince Rugari and I am not in Tashkent, but I am here to talk you through every pass, tackle and goal – hopefully there’s a few of them for the Matildas.
This is the first leg against Uzbekistan. The second leg is on Wednesday night in Melbourne. The winner on aggregate goes to the Paris Olympics. This is big.
We’ll have team news for you in just a moment – and there are two big shocks.
