Here come the teams, to fireworks being let off into the night sky, and then green and gold flares. No pyro, no party in Newcastle!
Just five minutes to kick-off. Not quite the 30,000-plus that were in Sydney on Saturday, but nevertheless it looks like a healthy crowd for a cold Tuesday night in Newcastle.
The tireless Hayley Raso starts tonight, as she completes her return from injury in a Matildas shirt.
“I’m only just coming back in so it’s been a little bit of a rusty start finding my feet,” she told my colleague Emma Kemp. “But I’ve done that now.”
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The 2019 Ballon d’Or Féminin winner Megan Rapinoe may be missing tonight, but Sam Kerr will lead out the Matildas tonight, fresh from coming third in this year’s vote. The Chelsea striker’s stellar season for Chelsea and Australia was rewarded, coming in behind Alexia Putellas and Jennifer Hermoso, the Barcelona and Spain pair.
“I feel proud just to be on that list so to be third it hasn’t really sunk in yet but I feel really proud and honoured that I was before a lot of great names,” Kerr has just told Channel 10.
Perhaps strangely, there was was one US player on the list - Samantha Mewis, who polled 14th in the final vote.
Weather report: Saturday’s game was played out in soggy conditions as rain lashed the east coast. Tonight... there are dark skies in Newcastle, but no rain at the moment.
U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT)Surveying the scene 🏟 @_alana_cook 🤝 @tierna_davidson pic.twitter.com/emgvALuW6U
November 30, 2021
The starting lineups are in.
There’s no Caitlin Foord – who has an FA Cup final with Arsenal to think about at the weekend – for the Matildas tonight, one of three changes to Tony Gustavsson’s starting XI. Nevin keeps her place at the back, but her central defensive partner on Saturday Nash drops to the bench. Teagan Micah joins her on the pine as Lydia Williams get the nod in goal, while Kyra Cooney-Cross comes into the midfield. Hayley Raso starts for the first time since returning from injury and Emily Gielnik, who didn’t feature at all on Saturday, gets a place on the bench.
CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas)STARTING XI 🗒
November 30, 2021
Here's how we line up for #AUSvUSA
⏰: 8:05 pm AEDT
📺💻📱: @10footballau #WeAreMatildas #GoMatildas
For the US, there’s just one change as Sofia Huerta comes into the starting XI at the back as Emily Sonnett drops to the bench. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and all that.
U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT)Your Starting XI in Newcastle 🇺🇸
November 30, 2021
For the second time in just over a month, Australia complete a Saturday-Tuesday double-header against world class opposition. But whereas October’s mini-series against Brazil started off well for the Matildas – with a 3-1 win in game one – they will tonight be looking to recover from a 3-0 weekend thrashing first time out against the world champions.
That result in Sydney was not helped by the absence of key defenders Clare Polkinghorne and Alanna Kennedy, nor by a calamitous start from their replacements – the inexperienced central defensive pairing of 19-year-old Courtney Nevin and 17-year-old debutant Jessika Nash. How coach Tony Gustavsson acts to mend his leaky defence may be key to tonight’s outcome in Newcastle, with Polkinghorne still out and Kennedy starting on the bench as she comes back from a quad injury.
Gustavsson, typically, remained upbeat after the defeat at Stadium Australia, pointing to his side’s “preparation mode” for the upcoming Asian Cup and beyond that, the 2023 World Cup on home soil, that means they try to play the scoreboard “blind” – in other words he doesn’t care too much about results, but it’s all about gaining experience and being tested by the best teams in the world.
“If I wanted to build that kind of false confidence, I would stick with some simple games and win some games and then people talk about ‘it looks so good’,” Gustavsson said. “But then maybe that would also be a little bit naive because when it comes to tournaments [where] you play the best teams, you’re not really ready.”
Even an understrength and inexperienced USA – who didn’t travel with the likes of big names Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan – can certainly provide another test and tonight’s game at McDonald Jones Stadium promises intrigue, one way or another.
CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas)Pitch is looking 😍😍😍#AUSvUSA pic.twitter.com/mHLjigSMnN
November 30, 2021
Kick-off is 8:05pm local, 4:05am on the east coast of the States. Full team news coming up, so stick with us. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch, either via email ([email protected]) or Twitter (@mike_hytner).