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Matildas v Chile: international football friendly – live!

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Our players are out the tunnel, on the pitch and we’re ready for anthems. A decent Chilean contingent in the stadium tonight – let’s hope they find something to cheer about tonight amid a difficult political climate back home.

A lovely rendition of Advance Australia Fair, and the Matildas peel off much needed jackets amid a brisk atmosphere in Adelaide.

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Interesting also will be to see how Caitlin Foord and Sam Kerr combine again up front tonight. The almost telepathic duo had their radar a little awry in Sydney. It didn’t stop the skipper still banging a brace, but it was one of the areas Ante Milicic would have liked no doubt to have worked on between games.

Australia, for all their obvious attacking talent were looking a little predictable at times, can Foord be the X-factor tonight?





A decent crowd trickling in at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide – a first time in over a dozen years the people of South Australia have had a chance to watch the Matildas in person. What a bumper year football in SA is already having, what with a heroic FFA Cup run for Adelaide United.

A big game for Amy Harrison – the talented youngster who burst through at Sydney FC only to undergo a horrific run of injuries, including the odd ACL. She’s still just 23 (which is almost veteran status compared to some of her teammates) but you really sense a huge maturation in her game in recent years, especially since her NWSL debut season.





Straight to team news:

Australia:

Four changes to the lineup a few days ago – Alanna Kennedy returns in the centre of defence, Amy Harrison makes a rare start in midfield, Tameka Yallop comes in for Emily van Egmond and Emily Gielnik gets the nod ahead of Hayley Raso.

Westfield Matildas
(@TheMatildas)

STARTING XI | Here’s how we line up against @LaRoja in Adelaide tonight!

📺: LIVE on @FOXFOOTBALL, @ABCTV, @kayosports and the My Football Live app #WeAreMatildas #AUSvCHI pic.twitter.com/bwznvWsNZS


November 12, 2019

Williams (GK), Carpenter, Kennedy, Polkinghorne, Catley; Harrison, Yallop, Logarzo; Gielnik, Kerr (c), Foord

Katrina Gorry and Karly Roestbakken also return to a bench that’s a little deeper than it was in Sydney.

Chile:

The big news is no Christiane Endler, Chile’s talis(wo)manic skipper in goals; she’s had to dash back to France for a crucial match for her domestic club Paris Saint Germain. Eight-cap understudy Natalia Campos comes in for her – a big night for her.





Hi all! A cordial greeting to you and yours, from wherever you’re following our coverage tonight. A big shoutout to our east coast followers – our thoughts are with you during this unprecedented bushfire threat, stay safe and be considerate to each other in your communities.

Tonight is however about the Matildas, and we’re in Adelaide to see if sam Kerr and pals can repeat the treat against Chile.





Preamble

Richard Parkin

It’s a last competitive match of 2019 for one of Australia’s most beloved teams. After a huge year, on and off the field, the Alen Stajcic saga and a mixed performance under huge expectations at the 2019 World Cup threatened to engulf the Matildas, but as they have so often, the team themselves have quietly pulled through – emerging with a landmark pay agreement to continue to fly the flag for women’s aspiration around the world.

It’s a second clash in three days against Chile – a team that showed in Sydney that they’re no slouches, despite South America’s notorious underfunding of the women’s game, and a misrepresentative world ranking. Will Ante Milicic ring the changes? Or will he try and embed new processes ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics? We’ll find out shortly.

source: theguardian.com