- Updates from the Matildas’ game at AAMI Park
- Kick-off time in Melbourne is 8pm AEDT
- Any thoughts? Email or get in touch on Bluesky
These two friendlies against Taiwan in Melbourne tonight and in Geelong on Saturday are the Matildas’ last matches for the year. Australia’s record this year is middling, in part due to a disappointing Olympic Games campaign, with six wins, five losses and a draw from their official matches.
The women’s national squad will be back together in February for the SheBelieves Cup against Japan, Colombia and hosts USA. Who knows, the Matildas might even have a permanent head coach then, but in the meantime third-time mentor Tom Sermanni will take charge for the pair of clashes with Taiwan. The 70-year-old took a thinly veiled swipe at his predecessors for failing to properly balance present-day success with the future needs of the team.
One of the key things as a national team coach is you’ve got to play for the present but plan for the future. And I think, in all fairness, I don’t think we’ve planned for the future well enough.
