CommBank Matildas forward Caitlin Foord expressed that it’s a “massive honour” to put on the jersey ahead of a milestone match against Mexico.
Foord is set to become the sixth player in history to reach 100 appearances for the CommBank Matildas on Tuesday evening’s game against Mexico in Sydney. She was speaking in the pre-match press conference alongside Head Coach Joe Montemurro.
“The first time you put on a Matildas jersey, you don't really know how many times you're going to get that opportunity,” she said.
“To put it on for 150 times tomorrow, it's a massive honour. You want to play as much as you can for your country and give everything. It will be a special moment for my family and me as well, but to kind of take the field so many times with the girls that I have along the way, it's incredible, and something I'm very proud of.”
Foord debuted in May 2011 against New Zealand in Gosford and her decorated career has spanned over 15 years. She said that experience has only helped her game.
“Experience - you don't get that until you play a lot of games, a lot of football, and I think it's just about that leadership as well,” she said.
“When you come into the team, there's not much expected of you, and you just play very freely. Now, the senior players, there's a lot more responsibility. You learn that with experience, and as the games go on. I’m trying to play my part as much as I can, and on the pitch, lead in my way – that is, by my actions.”
Montemurro spoke about what the team is hoping to achieve in game two of the series against Mexico on Tuesday.
“We've been harping on about continuity,” he summarised.
“Fifteen minutes of possession doesn't tell the story of the whole game itself. We spoke about the momentum change in the second part of that first half, where the opposition started to go more direct and longer, and we struggled a little bit with it.
“I put it all in context, because this is what these games are all about. These games are about different styles, different ideas. In all honesty, I've probably, in my whole career, seen two teams that lift their full back so high, so aggressively, and their 10s [attacking midfielders]. They got five or six up top, and they go long.
“I haven't seen a team do that for a long time, and I think the players haven't seen it for a long time, so we had to study it, we had to analyse it, not get emotional about it, and understand that it is a learning process. We put these little things in place - but all in context.”
Foord added to her coach’s words, saying that the key is to be more clinical in the final third.
“As a front line, and when we dominate as much as we did in the game with possession, you want the end product,” she said.
“In the final third, just the last pass, the last touch to have a shot got away from us a little bit. We want to be better at that and create more goal scoring opportunities, so it's about finding those passes and getting those shots off. We’ll be looking to do that, especially if we have as much possession as we did in the last game.”
She said it was all preparation for challenges ahead.
“In the World Cup, you come against all different kinds of shapes of play and different styles, so that's why we've started the process now,” she said.
“We've obviously played Mexico now, and the lead into the World Cup will be all different styles of play, so that's something we have to get used to. We’ll adapt quickly and find a way to win as well.”
COMMBANK MATILDAS | JUNE 2026 | NEXT GAME
CommBank Matildas v Mexico
Date: Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Kick-off: 7.00pm AEST
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
TV Broadcast: Paramount+ exclusive
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