The Matildas have begun the Ante Milicic era in the best fashion possible, a near-faultless tournament seeing them lift the inaugural Cup of Nations.
Former Matilda Joey Peters this week joined Box2Box to express her excitement for the future, having moved on from Alen Stajcic’s turbulent departure.
“During the Korean game, I started getting quite excited. I couldn’t remember the last time we played that well”, she explained.
“The other performances (against New Zealand and Argentina) weren’t the prettiest, but in context of what they’ve been through the past month, I’m so happy for the girls”.
With every member of the squad seeing considerable minutes throughout the tournament, and with big guns Kyah Simon, Katrina Gorry and Chloe Logarzo sitting out, Milicic faces some tough decisions at selection ahead of June’s World Cup.
Peters nominated Hayley Raso, recently returned from a broken back, as one standout performer who should be on the plane to France.
“She’s got to have been the player of the tournament. Every touch she made was golden, her pace is unbelievable Her energy… you can sense the other players feed off it”.
“(Similarly) Emily Gielnik has done herself a lot of favours. A player scoring consistently, you can’t keep them off the field”.
Peters also praised Milicic, particularly his squad rotation and equality in providing opportunity.
“I love that he’s brought that consistency in and given a really fair opportunity for players to prove themselves. I’m really impressed”.