Above: Tom Sermanni speaking to the press ahead of Australia v Brazil. Image: Football Australia.
By Genevieve Henry (30/11/24).
Ahead of the rematch with Brazil, Matildas interim head coach Tom Sermanni spoke to the press about how Australia can improve, players that impressed him, and the “unbelievable” support surrounding the team.
Thursday’s game against one of the Matildas’ biggest rivals was a brutal one in terms of physicality and aggression. Thankfully, Sermanni confirmed there were no serious injuries to his side and everyone is ready to play again. “There were a few bruised bodies the day after the game, but everybody, like most athletes, are very resilient and everybody’s back today…got the energy back and looking forward to the game tomorrow.”
He also commented on the refereeing of the match, saying, “I think it’s fair to say that I felt the referees were either intimidated or bullied the other night. And really, if they had taken control of the game early in the game, I think it would have been a very different game and potentially a very different outcome. I felt particularly that our forwards just got no protection.”
One player that particularly felt that heat was Caitlin Foord. In Sam Kerr’s absence, Foord has been the focal point of the attack and has stepped up her game in an incredible way. Sermanni heaped the praise on, saying, “I think Caitlin, this year, has taken her game to another level. I’ve watched a lot of her club football as well as international football this season, and she just seems to have gone to a different level, both physically, her ability to dribble, her goal-scoring ability, and just generally her all-round game. She’s such a significant player.”
“She doesn’t take a step backwards, as we saw last night, and she’s got great determination to win.”
Another player Sermanni was impressed by was the still new Sharn Freier. “To be honest, apart from watching her in the A-League women, I hadn’t seen a lot of her and you’re never quite sure how a player’s going to jump from that level up to the level of the other night and I thought she did an excellent job. So it’s for her then to make sure that’s not a one-off and make sure when and if she either starts or comes on tomorrow that she does exactly the same again. She’s got some fantastic qualities. Her speed with the ball and her ability to go past players was quite exceptional.”
“Yeah, I would say without having a crystal ball that (Sharn) will certainly play some part in this game. I’d be very surprised if she doesn’t. She was excellent the other night and I think that’s exactly what we want to see as a programme. We want to see players like Sharn get this opportunity and then show us the ability she’s got.”
Sermanni has brought in many fringe and new players to camp, his focus on expanding the talent pool. He commented, “there’s certainly a very good chance that there will be somebody making a debut.” We will likely see one or more of Tash Prior, Chloe Lincoln, or Leah Davidson in this match, being in the three uncapped players in camp.
“When I came into this job, I said to the players and to everybody that my intent was to do the job as if I’ve come in to do it as a proper job, as in long term. I have to stick by that because I’ve got a responsibility to the programme. But like every international, it’s a balance between planning for the future but playing in the present and a part of playing in the present is to try and get results. So it’s a combination of all of those things and it’s trying to blend it all together so you get exposure for players, fringe players or new players. But at the same time, you try not to compromise the result.”
“You again want to get that balance between putting a team out that you think can win a game but also putting players on the field that need to get that exposure and get that experience of playing at this high intensity international level.”
Now that Australia has more preparation, Sermanni is certain they are better equipped to face their opponents. “We’ve learned how aggressive Brazil are, how direct they play, where their threats are, and how dangerous they are as a team. And now that we’ve done that, we should be going into this game with better knowledge, but also better preparation in the sense that we’ve experienced the game against them.”
“I think you have to fight fire with fire. I think the challenge is that Brazil have adopted a very different style of football to what we expect Brazil to play and a very different style of football to what most of probably the top teams play.”
“So the reality is that you need to be able to match that and play against that and you need to be able to adjust to try and play effectively against that. A lot of that is actually for us to play a similar kind of game to them where we get the ball forward early and get our one-to-one match-ups against their defenders.”
Defensively, the Matildas were broken down far too easily on a few occasions. Sermanni said, “we need to try and probably do a wee bit better against their forward runs and their early forward passing. But again, that’s something you can show the players on video, but until you actually experience it, it takes a little bit of time to adjust. So hopefully, having played against it, the players will be a bit more familiar.”
Sermanni was encouraged by the opportunities the Matildas had to get behind their defence, saying, “we were either just off the pass or they fouled us or we missed the opportunity. Hopefully we can continue to do that part of the game and do it a little bit better.”
“We need to firstly nullify their threats a little bit better. We need to have the confidence and the courage to play our style of game when we get the opportunity to do that. We have to make the most of our opportunities when we get into those 1v1 situations.”
With another sellout crowd, Sermanni said the support for the team is just unbelievable. “It’s just fantastic. It’s great for women’s sport. I think it’s great for football. I think the stuff that’s happening around the Matildas now is just kind of unbelievable, to be honest.”
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