Tony Gustavsson possesses an undeniable stage presence. Enthusiastic – almost earnest – he arrives in Matildas camp from the air via umbrella, toes out-turned, ready to dance in dreamed-up settings with a smile and some catchy quotes. Five months before a World Cup for which Australia is still not convinced his national team is adequately prepared, he is in dress-rehearsal mode. “Everything we do now is like a World Cup rehearsal,” Gustavsson said on Wednesday, the eve of the Cup of Nations tournament – effectively a series of friendlies against Czechia, Spain and Jamaica.
Whether the main act turns out to be Mary Poppins or something more like Death of a Salesman remains unknown, even at this late juncture. But the next seven days might at least offer a ‘vibe’. The evidence currently at hand is a mixed 2022: a pretty awful Asian Cup, a 7-0 friendly capitulation to Spain and back-to-back losses against Canada – a World Cup group-stage opponent – followed by a more stirring series of friendly results including a 4-0 win over world No 3 Sweden and 3-1 defeat of Denmark.
If the latter half of the year is to be judged at face value, there may be little to worry about, and Thursday night’s meeting with 28th-ranked Czechia in Gosford constitutes nothing more than a practice run.
“It doesn’t mean the focus is only on winning in that sense, but we need to train the tournament format,” Gustavsson said. “How we close that game out and quickly check into something completely different tactically against Spain, and then the same thing [against Jamaica].
“Every opening game in a tournament is important because it kind of sets the tone for the tournament. We handle this game against Czechia in the same way as if it was [World Cup opponents] Ireland.”
Gustavsson will hope that, by the time the Matildas play their opening match against Ireland on 20 July, concerns around the game time of some of his players will have subsided. Most of November’s squad have been re-selected, save for veteran Chloe Logarzo because of what he described as a “foot problem”. Ellie Carpenter and Kyah Simon are both still coming back from ACL injuries, the former having recently returned to action with Lyon.
But he was more concerned with the seven players he has selected who have not played any competitive minutes for their clubs since the last camp in November. Some who have struggled for minutes are Hayley Raso, Alanna Kennedy, Tameka Yallop, Emily van Egmond and Lydia Williams.
“This is a challenge and that means I need to plan a little bit differently than I normally do going into a tournament like this,” he said. “We want to perform as good as we can but we want to have continuity and a consistent line-up, but also we need to be mindful of the minutes for players.”
Sam Kerr is not one of them. The striker arrived in Australia having just steered Chelsea to the English League Cup final, scoring four goals in the 7-0 rout of West Ham. Gustavsson acknowledged the 29-year-old had a “slow start” to the Women’s Super League season but has well and truly “played her way into form”, though he did not confirm if she would start at Central Coast Stadium. “If you ask Sam, she never needs rest,” he said. “She wants to play every single minute of every game. She loves the game so much that she always wants to play.”
There are also three players – Gustavsson declined to name them – who have been ruled out of the opening match for medical reasons. If any of those happen to be defenders it could mean a golden opportunity for bolter Clare Hunt, the 23-year-old whose form with the Western Sydney Wanderers has earned her a chance to play her way into the World Cup squad.
A fortnight ago, when Gustavsson named his Cup of Nations squad, he was “really pumped” to enter “going into tournament mode”. This presented “a great opportunity to taste what’s coming, to do this with the fans, with media, to do it on home soil and get that tournament feeling going”. The last time he spoke about a World Cup “dress rehearsal” was in November 2021, just before the Matildas lost 3-0 to reigning champions the United States at Accor Stadium, to where their tournament opener against Ireland has been moved. He will hope this time is different.
