By Emma Kemp
Tony Gustavsson has hinted he will deploy close to his strongest Matildas line-up in front of up to 80,000 fans in Sydney on Monday night, but the fitness of Caitlin Foord remains a major concern less than two months out from the Olympics.
Three days after a below-par 1-1 draw against Ante Milicic’s China at Adelaide Oval, Australia will play the rematch at Sydney’s Accor Stadium just hours before Gustavsson names his 18-player Paris 2024 squad on Tuesday.
On Friday, Gustavsson left Foord, captain Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso and Kyra Cooney-Cross on the bench in favour of more peripheral faces such as Kaitlyn Torpey, Clare Wheeler, Charli Grant and Cortnee Vine, only introducing the high-profile quintet just after the hour mark.
A big part of the coach’s rationale was managing the loads of players backing up from demanding European campaigns, amid fears of injuries on the eve of a major tournament. This fear came to pass when Foord – perhaps Australia’s most important attacker in the absence of injured Sam Kerr – came off with a hamstring injury 15 minutes into her shift.
The 29-year-old, who back-ended a taxing English Women’s Super League season with an appearance for Arsenal against the A-League All Stars in Melbourne on May 24, appears unlikely to play on Monday subject to assessment by national team medical and sports science staff.
“They’re actually doing a review of her availability as we’re speaking right now, so we’ll see in training today,” Gustavsson said on Sunday. “As soon as we know, we’ll put out a statement of whether she’s available or not.
An injury cloud hangs over Matildas star Caitlin Foord.Credit: Getty Images
“I actually don’t know myself. I will have a meeting when I come back to the hotel this afternoon, and then we’ll see if she joins training or not. Then we’ll make sure we provide a statement so everyone knows.”
Gustavsson last week said he had 14 or 15 of his roster already set in his head, meaning only three or four spots remain up for grabs – one of which will go to midfielder Katrina Gorry if she returns from injury in time as expected.
But even as he makes his final decisions on Monday night, the Swede intimated a sold-out Accor will see a few more regular starters this time, in a match that will double as special farewell to retiring goalkeeping great Lydia Williams.
“I think all of us in the team, including the players, were disappointed about the performance,” he said. “But we’re happy about that last-second goal, which says a lot about the attitude and identity of this team, with the never-say-die attitude focus all the way into the last second.
“We obviously watched some videos, had some reviews, and we’re going to have a training today to prepare. We want to be much more energised, more powerful, more attacking-minded and more aggressive than we were in the last game.
“And hopefully, even though it’s been a short turnaround with travel and a lot of nerves and emotions with selections, I think there’s a team that want to step out there and show who we truly are, and finish off with a very, very good performance on home soil. And combine that with sending off Lydia with an honouring game in the best way possible. To add a clean sheet to that would be great.”
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