Gustavsson: "There’s a vibe here, there’s a commitment, there’s a determination, there’s a belief."
CommBank Matildas Head Coach Tony Gustavsson gave his thoughts on the team’s Paris 2024™ preparation at the pre-match press conference as they prepare to face Canada in an International B Fixture on Sunday, 5am (AEST).
He said that the availability of Steph Catley and Kaitlyn Torpey for day one of the Olympic Games – after it was announced they were batting lower leg injuries – was too early to say.
“They’re both on individual plans,” he explained, “they both came in with issues into camp. I trust the medical team as always.”
“What I can say is that everyone is doing everything they can, including Steph and Torpey to get available. We actually have a meeting today regarding Torpey, Torpey’s looking good. She did an individual session yesterday as well on the park.”
“Everything is about getting the players available for the 25th [against Germany]. Some players could come in and need to work on fitness, some players need to work on a niggle, some players have a minor injury – it’s all about making sure they’re ready on the 25th.”
The International Olympic Committee announced a late rule change regarding alternates that could have an impact on the CommBank Matildas. The change was that alternate players could come into the squad for individual games if a squad member is unavailable, and then rotate back out if the squad member became available once more.
Gustavsson said that while nothing had changed in terms of preparation – the team’s four alternate players have been preparing in the same way as the other squad members – it does give teams more depth and flexibility during the tournament.
He also emphasised that – for Catley specifically – even though she had been unavailable for game one under the previous rules, her importance to the squad could not be overstated.
“Before we even knew the rule change, we had made a decision to say, ‘Steph is with us,’” he stressed.
“Let’s say in a few days from now that I get a decision that she won’t be available for the 25th, even if there wasn’t a rule change, I would’ve kept her. It’s Steph Catley. It’s our captain. If we have her available for the second game, or third game, I would have kept her. That’s how important she is to this team.”
He outlined that the training camp in Spain had been intense as the team acclimatises to European conditions in summer. It is also important to be intense to prepare the side for a gruelling Olympic Games schedule.
As a result, he said to expect to see lots of rotation against current Olympic champions Canada, a team that will provide a unique challenge for the players to overcome.
“Canada is different than the US and Germany [two CommBank Matildas group stage opponents] but there are some similarities as well, in terms of player profile, physicality, aggressiveness, speed in behind the back lines,” he explained.
“What does it look like when we attack? What does it look like when we lose the ball, and how can we stop the opposition’s transition game? Because we will face a lot of pace and transition in behind our backline. So that’s something we definitely want to work on.
“Another thing we want to look at… we’ve tried to develop our build-up, our passing, especially from all the way back from Macca [Arnold], and that means teams have come at us at times as Mexico pressed us high.
“We think two out of three group stages are going to press us very, very high. So that’s something we’re going to look at as well – how can we handle that high pressure and aggressive pressure that we think Canada will apply at times in the game.”
One of the mantras of Gustavsson’s time at the helm has been the importance of both a starting eleven and a finishing eleven. The International B Fixture against Canada will be vital to preparing both elements of the team.
“Every single player that sits on that bench during a game is going to have to be ready tactically, mentally, physically, and that cohesion and connection as well… everyone has an understanding that collectively this is what we want to do, but individually we want the players to be themselves,” he said.
This is Gustavsson’s fourth major tournament with the CommBank Matildas. In two of those – at Tokyo 2020™ and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ - the team finished fourth. It was the team’s greatest-ever finish at both of those events, but the group is preparing to attempt to go one step further this time.
“This team feels better prepared in the sense that this is now the fourth tournament we’re going to together,” he said. “A lot of the players have played together for a long time.
“The tactics, the work we’ve done after the World Cup - to have the base structure, and the base and the core of what we did in the World Cup as the building block, but then working on developing that game style over a year going into this tournament – hopefully have made them feel [more ready].
“I feel there’s a vibe here, there’s a commitment, there’s a determination, there’s a belief. We know the Olympics are going to be tough. We’re not even ranked top eight. So in terms of ranking, maybe we shouldn’t even make it to the quarterfinal. Maybe on paper, we are not the best team. But the one thing this team knows is that we can beat any team – and that’s what the Olympics are about.”
MATCH DETAILS
Australia v Canada
Date: Saturday, 13 July 2024 (local) / Sunday, 14 July 2024 (AEST)
Time: 9:00pm (local) / 5.00am (AEST)
Venue: Marbella, Spain
Broadcast: Paramount+
AUSTRALIA | MATCH SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024™ OLYMPIC GAMES
Germany v Australia
Date: 25 July 2024 (local) / 26 July 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France
Australia v Zambia
Date: 28 July 2024 (local) / 29 July 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Nice, Nice, France
Australia v United States
Date: 31 July 2024 (local) / 1 August 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France