That is the opportunity cost of sticking with Gustavsson for as long as they did: the best ones, like Emma Hayes, were snapped up during the European off-season, and there aren’t too many suitable free agents around.
The Matildas won’t play again until February 20 when they face Japan in the opening match of the SheBelieves Cup, in which they’ll also face the United States and Colombia. A squad for that friendly tournament would need to be named a week or two before then, so if someone other than Sermanni is to be picking it, FA’s top brass are in for a fairly busy festive period.
Interim coach Tom Sermanni after Saturday night’s win over Chinese Taipei in Geelong.Credit: Getty Images
Captain Sam Kerr won’t be involved, with her club Chelsea revealing over the weekend that she isn’t expected to be back training with the rest of the group until February or March.
By the time the SheBelieves Cup finishes, it’ll be 12 months – and, crucially, only five international windows – until the start of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, to be hosted by Australia, a tournament that will probably be the last hurrah for many of this team’s household names, including Kerr (who will be 32 years old), Caitlin Foord (31), Steph Catley (32), Emily van Egmond (32), Alanna Kennedy (31), Mackenzie Arnold (32), Katrina Gorry (33) and Hayley Raso (31). Some may not make it that far.
Given the rapid rise of standards across women’s football and Australia’s stasis in comparison to other nations, it’s increasingly looking like the Asian Cup is Matildas’ last realistic chance of winning a major trophy for the foreseeable future.
Australia’s FIFA women’s ranking peaked with the historical high of No.4 in the world in December 2017; there has been a steady regression since, even through the prime years of this ‘golden generation’ and today they sit at No.15. They’ve never been lower than No.16 since FIFA began keeping women’s rankings more than 20 years ago.
The Matildas celebrate Natasha Prior’s goal against Chinese Taipei in Geelong on Saturday night.Credit: Getty Images
Europe is galloping ahead, South America is catching up; Brazil’s two bruising wins in Queensland, with a brash and youthful squad under a new coach, showed how quickly traditional football countries can regenerate their ranks. The same thing, though at an admittedly slower pace, is happening in Asia.
Speaking of which: it used to be that the Women’s Asian Cup doubled as the pathway for World Cup qualification in the AFC. That has now changed, and for the first time, the Matildas will be exposed in this coming cycle to the same sort of arduous, long-haul travel to inhospitable locations as the Socceroos if they are to reach Brazil 2027.
Winnable games on paper, in those circumstances, become very difficult in reality – especially since they won’t be able to lean on the experience of the Kerr, Foord and Catley-era crew, most of whom will be retired by then.
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Some of those emerging players Sermanni has found will need to leave the A-League and establish themselves at big European clubs to take the next steps in their development.
And therein lies the monstrous challenge ahead for the Matildas and their new coach, who will have to balance fast-rising expectations with unavoidable realities. They’ll have to contend for a trophy while rebuilding, then qualify for a World Cup while criss-crossing Asia – all the while ideally retaining their status as Australia’s favourite sporting team.
Asked on Saturday night for a message he would give to his successor, Sermanni was only half-joking when he said: “Good luck.”
