The Matildas have timed their bid to be peaking come the business end of the FIFA Women’s World Cup to perfection.
Australia is just two games away from being crowned world champions and a win over England at Stadium Australia on Wednesday night at Stadium Australia will secure the Matildas a historic spot in Sunday’s final at the same venue against either Spain or Sweden.
Matildas veteran Tameka Yallop, who scored from the penalty spot in Australia’s dramatic 7-6 shootout quarter-final weekend win over France at Suncorp Stadium, said the squad’s progress under coach Tony Gustavsson had gone to plan.
“For this group, the journey started over two years ago with ‘TG’ coming in and building a group based on his football philosophies and also coming in to what we already had,” Yallop said.
“The timing of everything and all the finer details coming into place, it’s all happening now, which is really the pinnacle and the point that you want it to come together at.
“It’s been a long journey for us and we’re all still focused on that journey, and we don’t want it to end until the very last whistle.”
The steely resolve to fully capitalise on the position the Matildas have put themselves in was reinforced by captain Sam Kerr in a stirring Instagram post.
Kerr has been posting photos and updates to her 1.4 million followers throughout this World Cup, published a collection of four pictures illustrating the journey key players have been on to get to this historic moment.
The photos are of Kerr alongside teammates Caitlin Foord and Emily van Egmond progressing from the 2011 World Cup in Germany though the 2015, 2019 and this year’s World Cups in a remarkable feat for all three players in their careers.
“4th World Cup together, 1st semi together,” Kerr wrote on the post.
“Jobs not done,” she added, along with the “strong” emoji.
Yallop, who has more than 100 caps, said a lot of the players had been on a long journey together to this point.
“Every Matilda that pulls on the journey feels the legacy of the players before,” she said
“There’s been a tight group of players that have grown up playing football together, and they’ve been building football memories since they could kick a ball.”
Yallop made a pointed reference to the “never-say-die” mantra that the Matildas swear by as the Australians focused on the task of again beating the European champions on Wednesday night after getting the better of them in a 2-0 friendly win in London in April.
“That’s part of our jersey. When you put it on we do emulate that never say die attitude, that’s something instilled in us form a young age,” she said,
“You have to have that edge before you even put that Matildas jersey on. It’s something all Aussies get behind and something we take pride in, that attitude.”
But that result against England, she said, counts for little at a World Cup.
“That was a friendly game and we do take something out of it, but at the same time we’re into knockout games in a World Cup so it’s a completely different game,” Yallop said.
“I think we won’t let that result of that last game get in the way or alter our tournament mode.”