by Ben Gilby (5/3/24)
Above: Young Matildas head coach Leah Blayney speaking today ahead of her team’s second round-robin game at the U20 Asian Cup tomorrow against the hosts Uzbekistan. Image: Football Australia.
After their superb 2-1 win over South Korea on Sunday in the opening Group A game in the U20 Asian Cup, Australia know they are one win away from a semi-final spot and a place in the U20 World Cup.
It’s been a challenging few days for Young Matildas and head coach Leah Blayney whose team had to overcome freezing temperatures and up to 15cm of snow on the pitch in their outstanding opening win, which came courtesy of goals from Central Coast Mariners’ Peta Trimis and Melbourne City’s Naomi Thomas-Chinnama.
Speaking today, Blayney outlined how her side enjoyed their win, but now they are fully focused on sealing another three points against the host nation Uzbekistan tomorrow.
“The squad’s pulled up really well, our focus has been on recovery, then rest and preparing for Uzbekistan. It’s important to ride the highs and set yourself up to sit at a moderate level as there are a number of more games ahead of us in terms of the group. We certainly enjoyed the moment, but it was pretty much back to business the next morning.”
There was a lot for Blayney to like about that opening performance. Whilst the result and performance were excellent for the head coach, the most telling of all was the consequence of the strong bond fostered in the camp.
“It just sets us up with a bit of momentum moving forward. The biggest thing for us to take from that match was the resiliency we have as a group to stick together in tough conditions and prevail, and I think that will stand us in good stead later in the tournament as well.”
After getting through 90 minutes in such difficult conditions, the Young Matildas’ head coach was able to ease concerns that there were any fitness issues as a consequence. She did though drop a hint that she may be looking to give some other players some minutes in tomorrow’s encounter.
“I’ve got a competitive and healthy squad. There will certainly be competition for starting positions. We do have to be very mindful that potentially this is a five-game tournament and squad rotation will be important.”
The Young Matildas will be coming up against an Uzbekistan side who are fighting for their lives in the tournament having lost their opening group game 2-0 to Chinese Taipei. That fact, and their status as the host nation makes Blayney aware that tomorrow’s opponents will be tough to beat.
“They are the host nation. Any time that a team comes up against an Australian team they are always going to be up for it. They know our quality on the back end our result against South Korea, so I definitely think they will come out on the front foot with a point to prove at home.”
“It’s important that we have the ball on the deck and we’ll be super aggressive with the ball and that’s something we are excited about in the next match…We can be tactically flexible in different conditions and I’m looking forward to us displaying that in this match, and it being something for other opponents to handle.”
Victory against Uzbekistan tomorrow will guarantee Australia a place in the semi-finals of the tournament with a group game still to play. That semi-final spot would also guarantee qualification for the U20 World Cup in Colombia later this year – the first time the Young Matildas would have made it through to those championships via a qualification tournament since 2006.
That competition 18 years ago in Russia saw Blayney as part of the playing squad alongside such icons of the Australian game as Lydia Williams and Clare Polkinghorne. The current generation stands on the brink of making history and, despite trying to play down the potential, the Young Matildas’ head coach is clearly excited by the prospect.
“It’s something that would be incredible for the group, it’s something we’ve all been working for and we look forward to it coming to fruition.”
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