Ben Gilby hears from Tameeka Yallop on the night of her hundredth cap, debutant Jessika Nash, Manchester City’s Hayley Raso, and Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord (28/11/21).
Above: Inside the huddle. Photo supplied to Impetus by: Football Australia.
“I was gutted that we didn’t get the win”, admitted Tameeka Yallop, speaking after the final whistle.
“However, I was excited to be playing in this stadium and in front of all these fans (a record crowd of over 36,000). We’re leading into (a home World Cup) in 2023 and to have this sort of crowd is awesome.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s second game with the USA at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium, Yallop highlighted the modifications that were necessary.
“We need to be more clinical in our finishing. Look, today we got stuck in and played really well. We had a lot of possession, but we need to be more clinical.”
Whilst Yallop was celebrating her centenary of caps, at the other end of the scale, Jessika Nash made her debut. The Sydney FC defender spoke about her experience.
“It’s hard to put into words. Having the backing that I did from the girls was all I needed and the backing from Tony (Gustavsson). It’s unreal and hasn’t sunk in.
“When I found out I would be starting, I was really nervous but I knew from training this week that the girls had 100% backing of me which made it easier. I also knew that Tony would not have put me in if he didn’t have confidence in me.”
Having got her debut out of the way, Nash highlighted the fact that now “I can just be calm going into Tuesday and have that calmness from the get-go. I think the first five minutes was a bit chaotic today, but hopefully, we’ll get a chance to settle in a bit earlier.”
Hayley Raso made her international return from injury from the bench and was clearly disappointed by the outcome of the match.
“It was a tough result and it’s hard to come away 3-0 down. For me on a personal note, it’s nice to be back, but it’s a disappointing result.”
The big positive that the midfielder took out of the game was the record crowd. “They are amazing. They always are, they are like a 12th man for us. We heard them cheering for the whole game.”
Caitlin Foord was clear about the desire within the squad to put things right result-wise in the second game between the two sides in Newcastle on Tuesday.
“It’s disappointing not to get the win in front of the home crowd here, but we’ve got a lot to learn from. We have another game to redeem ourselves in so we are not looking forward to that one.
“It was huge to have that many fans come out today to support us and we really appreciate that support and hopefully we can get the win for them next time.”
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