If you think Football Australia should have stripped Sam Kerr of the Matildas captaincy for her verbal altercation with London police ... you probably weren’t at Leichhardt Oval on Tuesday.
As a train-on player only,she won’t wear the captain’s armband on Friday night at Allianz Stadium in the first of two friendlies between the Matildas and South Korea. But she will wear it again.
The equation is simple for Australia after their 2-0 victory in China:win their next match and they’ll seal qualification for next year’s tournament.
Australia may now be in the driver’s seat,but the hard work is still to come. Here’s a look at how they performed in their World Cup qualifier against China in Hangzhou.
Australia’s direct qualification hopes for next year’s World Cup will now come down to June’s clashes with Japan and Saudi Arabia after an important victory in Hangzhou on Tuesday night.
FIFA expanded the World Cup to 48 teams partly to give China a better chance to qualify. But unless they beat the Socceroos on Tuesday,they will likely fall short again.
Injuries to Adam Taggart and Kusini Yengi have further exposed Australia’s lack of quality striking options - an issue coach Tony Popovic probably can’t fix until after 2026 World Cup qualification is clinched.
Craig Goodwin is assessing his club options ahead of a likely move away from Saudi Arabia. On recent form,he could hold his own in a top five league in Europe.
Tony Popovic’s Socceroos are clearly a work in progress,as their first 15 minutes against Indonesia showed. But there is clear progress being made.
It’s been a long time since Daniel Arzani was billed as the Socceroos’ next big thing. If Tony Popovic’s public bake can’t bring out his best,maybe nothing will.