Hayley Raso spoke to the media after being selected in the 18-player squad to represent the CommBank Matildas at Paris 2024™.
Paris 2024 will be the 29-year-old’s second Olympic Games. She said it’s “pretty amazing” to be selected.
“It’s always special,” she expressed. “It’s always an honour and an amazing feeling, so very much looking forward to it. It’s coming around quickly as well.”
“Going to Tokyo, it was still so incredible. I know we didn’t have the fans, and [with] COVID, there was a lot going on, but it was still such an amazing experience being in the village and being a part of the Olympics. To be able to go this time, it definitely feels a little bit more real.”
Raso plays her club football in Spain for Real Madrid. She was asked about how she was enjoying her time over in Madrid as the 2023/24 season comes to a close.
“I’m really enjoying my time over in Spain,” she answered. “I like the lifestyle, I like the team, I think it’s really good. I think it’s developed me a lot.”
“I’m training hard over in Spain. I always make sure I stay fit, stay sharp. No matter how many minutes I’m getting in my club, it’s just about keeping in form. So I feel like I’ve been training well in Spain, playing when I can over there.
“When you come back and put on the Australian jersey it’s a bit of a different feeling. I always try and put my best foot forward.”
While her contract runs out with the club at the end of this season, she said that she had not yet made a call on her future. She emphasised that her focus right now was firmly on the Olympics with the CommBank Matildas.
That focus is aimed towards the main goal – to finish on the podium.
“We’ve come fourth a couple of times now, and it’s kind of – it’s getting on our nerves a little bit,” she explained, referring to the team’s fourth-place finishes at Tokyo 2020™ and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.
“We’re all really wanting to achieve something and bring something back. We’ve all got the same goal. We’re obviously focusing on one game at a time, but we really want to come away with something.”
“We all know what we want to achieve, and it’s just about making sure that we’re working hard in this little break that some people have, and once we get there, we just get rolling. We have to come back with something.”