By Kris Goman 1/4/25
Above: Emily Van Egmond. Photo: Kris Goman
Impetus caught up with Emily van Egmond this morning at the Matildas first press conference.
There were many questions about Sam Kerr’s return to the team and Van Egmond said, “I think she’s just really happy, honestly to be here. It’s been so long. She’s a big personality. She’s a great personality. She helps the team in positive ways. So, for us it’s really good. It’s nice just to see her here again.”
There was plenty of big smiles while talking about Kerr and their long and deep friendship was obvious.
Asked to pinpoint what happened during the She Believes Cup, Van Egmond said, “I think the She Believes Cup was a good tournament to be a part of. I think playing Japan in the first opening game was – you never want to go down like that to a team. But for us, it was good also to see the level now.
“And now we’ve been exposed to three different oppositions, Japan, Columbia and the USWNT and yeah, we have work to do and we welcome that challenge. You need to go out there and bounce back from that. And obviously Asia Cup is the short-term goal for us.”
The Asia Cup is fast approaching and will be the Matildas next major tournament. With it being held in Australia, less than a year away, it’s the current primary focus. Playing South Korea on Friday in Sydney and on Tuesday in Newcastle will be critical in the preparation for this tournament. And it was South Korea that knocked Australia out of the last Asia Cup in the final minutes of the Quarter Finals when Ji So-Yun slammed the match winner into the net. South Korea went on to be runners up to China in the final.
Reminded of that moment, Van Egmond reminisced, “It feels like years ago now it, but yeah, that was a heartbreak for us to conceive in the last couple minutes.
“The way that we did was obviously not a nice feeling, but we know what they’re capable of, they’re a great team.
“They’re a technical team. We need tomake sure we nullify what they do. To be honest with you, at the time it probably would’ve been devastating for us. But yeah, we have little time now to prepare, so every game counts for us and it’s really, really important. We’re doing everything that we can to get to the best possible shape that we can before that.”
Much to the annoyance of many genuine fans, the media continues agitate about Sam Kerr’s trial and return to the squad. Certainly, there’s been a shift in the way the team has been viewed, prompting the question, “Do you think all of Australia’s going to be in love with the Matildas again when there’s another home tournament to get around again?”
Van Egmond was optimistic , “I hope they still are. We’ve come to town and everyone’s buzzing that the Matildas are back. So we don’t focus on the negative side.”
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