Joe Montemurro has praised ‘great to watch’ Lionesses ahead of facing the European champions on Tuesday night. The Australia head coach stated stating that it is a ‘real honour’ to face England on their homecoming tour.
The Matildas come into the game off the back of a pleasing 2-1 victory over Wales
in Cardiff. The Lionesses on the other hand will be looking to improve on a disappointing loss to Brazil by the same score line.
Montemurro was joined by Arsenal defender Steph Catley who spoke to the press ahead of Australia’s clash with the England on Tuesday night and The Halfway Line was there to hear directly from them.
Joe Montemurro excited to face ‘difficult’ Lionesses team
Joe Montemurro is expecting a difficult game as England attempt to right the wrongs
from Saturday’s game. Montemurro was keen to stress the importance of a fast start for his side.
“I’m sure the Lionesses don’t want another negative result” Montemurro explained.
“I’m sure they’ll come out with the opportunity to make sure that they are physically prepared and ready for a game. Then for us it’s a very good test because it sort of shows a competition scenario, where the second game of the group stage is the most important one. They’re going to be prepared to come back, and we’ll be prepared for that move from a competition perspective”.
“We are really focusing on what we need to tidy up and for us it was more about the
details on the defensive phase. The game will be different [to Wales], different set up
of teams, so we’ll look at those little bit of differences, to make sure that we can
adapt our ideas, but not strain too much away from what we are trying to achieve.”
Montemurro was eager to praise the Lionesses on their European Championship
triumph in the Summer and expressed his delight in facing one of the best teams in
the world.
“I want to congratulate the Lionesses on their amazing European performance, great to watch, but to come up and play against one of the top teams in the world is a real honour.”
It was a ‘great honour’ to see Hayley Raso join the 100 club says Joe Montemurro
After their victory against Wales, Hayley Raso became only the seventeenth Australian player to reach 100 caps for the national team. The Halfway Line asked Montemurro how pleased he was to see her reach that milestone and how her influence on the pitch
transcends into the dressing room.
“It’s always a great honour to be part of an occasion where a player reaches that sort
of a milestone, so it was an honour for me but also an honour for the team as well” he explained.
“The biggest thing that was great for me too see was how the team reacted and we
obviously really applaud her milestone.
“She’s an amazing impact player. She can change the game just on her own ability. She was coming out of probably a difficult scenario at Frankfurt, and it was great to give her the opportunity to start and see where she’s at.”
Another major moment in the fixture against Wales was the return of Sam Kerr to the
starting eleven for the first time in over 700 days. Montemurro was questioned on her
fitness and if she is in line to start consecutive games for the Matildas.
“Everyone’s fine and in good shape, and we are obviously very sympathetic to the minutes and the management of players coming out of Champions League” Montemurro asserted.
Steph Catley lauds ‘incredible’ Sam Kerr
Steph Catley was also on hand to speak about the Matildas captain whom she has deputised for more than once over the years. The Halfway Line inquired what it was like to have someone of Sam Kerr’s calibre back in the matchday squad:
“It’s amazing” Catley stated.
“We’ve missed her over the last two years, she’s been a staple in our team for many years, she’s our captain, our goal scorer. She’s incredible, so having her around and back on the pitch is amazing, after she’s worked so hard to get to this point, so as a friend, it’s just nice to see her.”
Playing against familiar faces ‘makes you want to win more’ explains Steph Catley
Steph Catley will face off against numerous familiar faces on Tuesday, as she
faces up against many of her Arsenal teammates. Facing friends and colleagues can
have both its rewards and its challenges, but it’s an opportunity that Catley is looking
forward to and believes it shouldn’t change anything in her approach to the game.
“It’s a little bit of mind games in some aspects, but we’re all competitors” Catley explained.
“It’s just like facing each other at training, you want to get the better of them. You want to be the best you can be every single day, so if anything, it makes you want to win more.
“But it doesn’t change anything about how we approach the game. Obviously we don’t know who’s going to start, but I think they all bring their own threats. Like I said before, the front three that started against Brazil, I know pretty well, Joe [Montemurro] knows pretty well.
“They all bring their own unique challenges, but I think as a squad the players that we have now are playing in some of the best competitions in the world, so we’ll be ready for everything… they throw at us.”
England vs Australia kicks off at 7pm GMT in front of a sold out Pride Park and it will be live on ITV 4.
