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The rather pedestrian defensive performance on display from the Football Ferns last Friday has put focus on two of the more curious absences from their squad: veteran defensive pair Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott.
Both are playing at a high level with their clubs: Bowen arguably the Kiwis’ most in-form player as she anchors Inter Milan’s backline and Stott captaining a Melbourne City side flying high in both the A-League Women and Women’s Asian Champions League.
Indeed, so strong has the latter’s form been across the past year, she was crowned MVP of the newly revamped Women’s Asian Champions League last season and was subsequently nominated for the FIFA Women’s World 11.
And yet, neither is in this squad.
Mayne was asked about Stott’s absence following the Gosford game and responded, “She knows what she needs to do. Any player that’s not here had got the feedback they need.”
Curious, because one does wonder what two highly-credentialled defenders need to prove to get into a side that has now conceded 13 goals across its last three games.
New Zealand XI
Football Ferns legend Annalie Longo starts on the bench in what will be her final game for her country – the 34-year-old announcing in the build-up to this game that she’s set to hang up the boots after a 19-year international career.
Stepping away from professional club football after the end of Wellington Phoenix’s last A-League Women, the veteran defender had retained by Ferns’ coach Michael Mayne to help guide the side during a period of transition and, should she get on the park, she’ll end her career with 144 appearances for the side.
That makes her New Zealand’s fifth highest capped international women’s footballer, trailing only Ria Percival, Ali Riley (who rather surprisingly wasn’t afforded a farewell game when she hung up the boots last month), Betsy Hassett and Abby Erceg
Big time noticing how every broadcast of a national team game played in Australia these days starts with a tourism advert for the city/state hosting it.
The State Governments bidding to host these games gotta get their money’s worth, I guess.
This series, of course, represents the final international window the Matildas will get before the best of Asia descends next March for the Women’s Asian Cup.
While Australia’s women have mostly played in mid-size stadiums in recent times – Hindmarsh is listed as having a 16,500 capacity, 15,000 of which are seated – Jack Snape detailed last week how organisers of that tournament feel vindicated for scheduling the Matildas in some of the country’s biggest stadia for next year’s tournament; Sarah Walsh, herself a former Matilda and now the chief operating officer for the Women’s Asian Cup declaring that the risk of scheduling the team in these large venues is “paying off”.
Walsh says that a major marketing campaign is planned in the coming weeks, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in ticket sales for the games not involving the Matildas – organisers currently running a promotion offering a free junior ticket with every adult ticket purchased.
Though the Matildas remain a brand that mostly creates its own demand, convincing the residents of Western Sydney to buy a ticket to see North Korea face Uzbekistan, or the citizens of Perth to head out to watch Chinese Taipei against Vietnam, might be a tougher ask.
And in the A-League Women, we already have a case study in the halo surrounding Australia’s favourite football team not quite bathing others in the kind of light they’d be hoping for.
Australia XI
Six changes to the Matildas side that hammered New Zealand in Gosford.
Sam Kerr will make her first start home soil since returning from an ACL injury – her first start Down Under since November 2023 – while Teagan Micah comes in between the posts.
Alanna Kennedy returns after sitting out the first game through suspension and this probably looms as a big game for her.
Clare Hunt, Tash Prior, Wini Heatley were already putting the squeeze on her place in the XI and now with Steph Catley increasingly kicking inside for both club and country that pressure will only become more significant. Proving herself in the midfield perhaps an avenue to shoring up her place.
As mentioned, it was a pretty comprehensive win for the Matildas in last week’s meeting between these two sides, with Amy Sayer, Hayley Raso, Ellie Carpenter, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Katrina Gorry netted in a comprehensive win.
Indeed, while it wasn’t a perfect performance by the Matildas – the Kiwis created a few half chances and didn’t exactly present the kind of defensive obstacle that they’ll face with any kind of regularity – it was probably their best performance yet in the short tenure of Joe Montemurro.
Here’s how Jo Khan saw everything in the minute-by-minute and here’s my match report to get you up to speed.
Preamble
Joey Lynch
Howdy all, you’ve arrived at the Guardian’s live coverage of the second fixture of this two-game international friendly series between Australia and New Zealand’s women, tonight emanating from Hindmarsh Stadium in Radelaide, South Australia.
Last I checked, my name remained Joey Lynch and I’ll be taking you through all the action from this evening’s clash, in which the Matildas will be looking to back up the 5-0 thumping they handed out in the first meeting between these two in Gosford last Friday and the Kiwis will be looking, if not to claim a first win in this fixture since 1994, to at least salvage some level of pride.
Kick-off in the City of Churches is at 8.00pm AC⚡DT, 8.30 AEDT, or 10.30pm NZDT if you’re following along from Aotearoa.
Line-ups soon!
