Grenoble: Australian head coach Ante Milicic said he hasn’t spent a moment wondering how Italy’s match with Brazil might impact Group C’s final standings, opting instead to devote every ounce of his energy to his side’s clash with Jamaica on Tuesday.
The Matildas’ stunning come-from-behind 3-2 win over Brazil last Thursday means a thumping victory over the Reggae Girlz, coupled with a Brazilian success against Le Azzurre, could yet see the Australians top the group table despite their slow start to the tournament.
Entering the knockout stage as group winners could give his side a more winnable Round of 16 fixture, but Milicic sees little point in agonising over a match he isn’t involved in, calling on his charges to focus on the job at hand against the 53rd-ranked tournament debutants.
“We’ll just focus on what we can control and that’s our performance tomorrow,” he declared.
“It’s important that we just keep on playing our playing style and we show full respect to the opposition. We won’t underestimate them, and we know we’ll be in for a difficult game tomorrow.
“(As for) the other game; We’re not going to concentrate on if this team beats that team or if this team scores that many goals. That’s outside noise.
“We’ll focus on winning the game of football. If we deviate in any way from that, it could become a very tricky game for us.”
It’s match day minus one at the foot of the French Alps.
Final preparations are underway for our @FIFAWWC Group Stage game against Jamaica. #WeAreMatildas #GoMatildas #FIFAWWC #JAMAUS pic.twitter.com/vH4QvPkDqe
— Matildas (@TheMatildas) June 17, 2019
Australia have every reason to be confident against a Jamaican outfit which has shipped eight goals in back to back defeats to Brazil and Italy in their first World Cup but stumbling against the side from the Caribbean could have severe implications to the Matildas’ campaign.
Even a draw will confirm their place in the Round of 16 but finishing third in the group will pit Australia against a group winner, with France and Germany among the potential opponents, but Milicic insists, no one in his camp is looking further than the 90 minutes ahead of them.
“We don’t fear any opponent,” he said. “We’ll finish first, second or third, hopefully, for a reason and who we come up against and at what stadium, we have no fear.”
“(But) we first have to make sure we get ourselves in a position to get to the Round of 16.”
The parameters of Australia’s concentration may be clear, but their personnel for Tuesday’s clash remains something of a mystery, with only defender Clare Polkinghorne confirmed to be out of the running to start.
Midfielder Tameka Yallop is reportedly under an Injury cloud, while a number of players, including 16-year-old Mary Fowler may see increased minutes.
“Clare won’t be available for selection tomorrow,” Milicic confirmed. “As for Tameka; we’ll have a look at her tomorrow morning.”
“Mary Fowler completed everything (in training) so Mary’s available and she’ll be in the Matchday squad tomorrow.”
While Milicic is experiencing his first FIFA Women’s World Cup, Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams is in the midst of her fourth trip to the Finals as an Australian squad member.
Now a team veteran at 31, Williams says the off-field interest in the competition has grown rapidly since her first World Cup in China 12 years ago.
“You see how its progressed,” she said. “There are a lot more supporters. There are a lot more media and journalists.
"You see kids out on the street with jerseys of all the different players; Not a just a men’s jersey, but a jersey with a female player’s last name, and that’s kind of crazy, just how much it’s progressed and how much interest is actually in the game.”
A consequence of that growing interest, along with Australia’s steady rise to sixth in the world rankings, is the growing level of expectation of the side.
Williams concedes it is something that has taken time to adjust to but believes their memorable 3-2 win over Brazil has given her teammates the mental boost they needed.
“We haven’t really had a lot of pressure on us before (this World Cup),” she explained. “We’ve mostly been seen as an underdog team and that’s what been used to performing as.”
“Maybe the first game (against Italy) was a little bit of that, but in saying that, this team knows how to bounce back, and we did so in the second game and now we're in a really good head space.”
Jamaica v Australia
FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 Group C
Stade des Alpes, Grenoble
Kick-off: 21.00 (local time)
Photos: FIFA via Getty Images, AFP
Source: the-afc.com