Matildas prepare for ‘balancing act’ as they look to the future without ignoring the past

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Matildas prepare for ‘balancing act’ as they look to the future without ignoring the past

Interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni says the current international window is a balancing act of putting their best team on the park with without freezing out the next generation of national team players.

Off the back of Australia’s 3-1 defeat to Brazil in a bruising encounter in Brisbane on Thursday, the two teams will lock horns again on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

The squad will then split in two, with several overseas stars heading back overseas while the rest of the team heads down to Victoria for two games against ******** Taipei.

Sermanni, in charge for his second international window after his temporary return to the job, perfectly captured the state of the current Matildas squad when he spoke of the challenge of looking to the future without ignoring the past or present.

“It’s a balance between planning for the future, but playing in the present,” he said.

“Part of playing in the present is to try and get results. It’s trying to blend it all together so you get exposure for new players, fringe players, but at the same time you try not to compromise the result.”

Sermanni made his intentions clear for the four-game window when he named his initial, expanded 36-player squad which featured 16 A-League Women’s players, six uncapped players and another eight who had less than 10 caps.

Camera IconTom Sermanni, interim head coach of Australia. Credit: Albert Perez/Getty Images

When he announced the team, Sermanni said it was an opportunity to look at domestic players and expose them to international football, something the team had not had the opportunity to do for some time.

The Matildas are in many ways a team in transition, in between major tournaments and permanent coaches.

They are also trying to balance two different eras — the old guard hoping to extract as much as they can from what will likely be their last major tournament cycle, along with a new generation of players taking their tentative first steps.

In the 3-1 loss to Brazil, there were just two starters with less than 50 caps: World Cup breakout star Clare Hunt, and Denmark-based 23 year-old Winonah Heatley, who impressed in a somewhat unfamiliar holding midfield role.

The 2026 AFC Women’s Cup will be the first of three major tournaments in the space of two and a half years, including the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil and finishing with the Los Angeles Olympics.

By the end of the cycle, stalwarts Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Mackenzie Arnold, Alanna Kennedy, Emily van Egmond and Hayley Raso will all be at least 33.

For some, if not all of them, it will be their last cycle with the team.

It means the Matildas need to find a balance between eking out every last ounce from their golden generation, while also affording opportunities to the players beneath them, so when the veterans move on, the next generation do not arrive on the international stage undercooked.

Camera IconWinonah Heatley impressed against Brazil Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Hunt, who only made her national team debut less than a year before the last World Cup, said she expected more younger players would get chances over the next few years.

“We’re missing two players due to injury, and that gives some younger players like Daniella Galic and Sharn Freier a run, and they’ve showed some class,” she said.

“We have a few losses in some injuries, but it’s also shining a light on the talent we do have and (are) bringing into the squad.

“It’s just an element of being patient with the squads that we have and the squads that we put forward, because ultimately, we’re here for the future; it’s not a one year fix, it’s probably a continuum.”

Camera IconAlanna Kennedy and Emily Van Egmond are likely approaching their final Women’s World Cup with the national team. Credit: Albert Perez/Getty Images

van Egmond, who played her 150th Matildas game in Brazil, praised the performance of Heatley in her first start for the national team.

“It should be a privilege to come into a Matildas camp and someone like Winnie, she doesn’t take for granted, and she works extremely hard,” she said.

“Every young aspiring Matilda player should have exactly the same mentality. We’ve set the standard with the generation that I’ve come through with, and we’ve worked extremely hard to get the culture to where it is and we hope that it continues.

“That generation coming through from Polks to when I came through, we’ve worked incredibly hard to build the culture to where it is now and all we want to do is leave the game in a better place when we first came in.”

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