Day three for the CommBank Matildas saw the heaviest day of training yet for the squad as they ramped up preparations for South Africa. Assistant Coach Melissa Andreatta described the atmosphere during the opening sessions.
“The first three days here in camp have been excellent. We've really enjoyed the training venue and getting together,” said Andreatta. “I think we’ve really noticed the difference in arriving into camp a bit fresher and ready to go. We've already had three really quality sessions to kick off camp.”
“It's been really positive and really focused, I would say. I think the playing group is eager to get on the pitch on Saturday and put the work into practice in a good performance on Saturday.”
On the importance of the fixture, Andreatta discussed the significance of taking on the Women’s African Cup of Nations champions in this window.
“It's an exciting opportunity. Now, after 12 months, we've been able to tick the box of playing a country from every FIFA confederation.”
“The key focus is that we want to play well. We want to play well for 90 minutes and put everything that we do in the training park into the game under pressure against different opponents on match day.
“South Africa has proven to be a top African nation, and they're unique in their playing style. They are very technical, very athletic, and intense in the way that they play. Defensively they'll come out and win their 1v1 duels, intercept, transition and look to get in behind.
“We need these different opponents to play against so that when we come into a World Cup where we could, in our draw, play any one of these nations it's important that we have the experience of playing them.
“It gives you that confidence and that familiarity that you can go into a pressure environment with thousands in the stands and know that you've faced this before and can go and get the job done.”
Late injuries have hit the CommBank Matildas in the last two windows with the absences of Alanna Kennedy (shoulder), Kyah Simon (knee), Tameka Yallop (ankle), Emily van Egmond (quad) and Clare Wheeler (knee) prior to the commencement of October’s camp.
For Andreatta, it underscores the vital depth building project that has been undertaken in the past 12 – 18 months.
“We've been able to do that [build depth] with the number of debutantes over the last 18 months, so I think it's been effective in that way.”
“We've unfortunately experienced some injuries that we found through our screening processes before camp. Because of that depth building, and players that have been through Talent ID camps, our A-League Women's competition, NPL competitions through to AFF, we've been able to draw on a wider pool of players to build our squad and have a competitive team for this window.”
CommBank Matildas v South Africa
Date: Saturday, 8 October 2022
Location: Kingsmeadow, London
Kick-Off: 12:30pm (local) / 10.30pm (AEDT)
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+
Tickets are available for purchase exclusively online