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Hosts Australia will hope to revive the ‘Matildas mania’ that swept the nation during their run to the 2023 World Cup semi-finals as they bid for a second Women’s Asian Cup title.
The Sam Kerr-captained Matildas kick off the 21st Asian Cup on Sunday against the Philippines in Perth, seeking a big win in front of a bumper crowd to build momentum in the 12-nation showpiece.
With the Matildas playing in front of 16 successive sell-out crowds on home soil from the World Cup through to most of 2024, Australia were enthusiastic bidders for the quadrennial Asian Cup, promising to fill big stadiums in host cities Perth, Sydney and the Gold Coast.
The buildup has been subdued, though, with tickets freely available for all the group matches and little buzz around the hosts.
Once dubbed “Australia’s favourite team”, the Matildas have fallen back to earth since the World Cup when their ambitions of being a global women’s soccer power seemed realistic rather than aspirational.
With totemic striker Kerr sidelined due to an ACL injury, Australia crashed out in the group phase at the Paris Olympics and slumped to a record low ranking of 16th last year as Football Australia (FA) dithered over recruiting a permanent replacement for coach Tony Gustavsson.
A racial abuse case brought by London police against Kerr also hit the Matildas’ wholesome image, even if the captain was found not guilty in early-2025.
Video that emerged during the case of Kerr swearing sullenly at police after a big night out came as a shock to fans and had media pundits demanding she be stripped of the captaincy.
Those calls came to nothing, with new boss Joe Montemurro wasting little time reinstating Kerr upon her return to the side last October after nearly two years out with injury.
BAR SET HIGH
Under the highly-regarded Montemurro, who claimed women’s league titles at Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon, the Matildas have implemented a possession-based game and racked up friendly wins against modest opponents.
However, a 3-0 drubbing in an away friendly against European champions England in October may be more indicative of Australia’s standing in global football.
Languishing at world number 15, the Matildas are third in Asia behind world number eight Japan and ninth-ranked North Korea, and crashed out of the Asian Cup quarter-finals in India four years ago.
Local fans, however, may expect nothing less than glory on home soil.
Montemurro has also set the bar high for the Matildas, who beat North Korea on penalties in the 2010 final in China, their sole Asian Cup triumph.
“We have to be, I believe, extremely competitive at this level. This is our area,” he said.
“We want to be a dominant force in Asia.”
Montemurro is right to have expectations given the modest quality of the region.
The Asian Cup mirrors the state of the women’s game in the continent which is lagging further and further behind Europe and features huge disparities with men’s football at all levels.
Only five Asian nations are in the world’s top 30, and it would be a shock if another broke through to the semi-finals.
Defending champions China, coached by Australian Ante Milicic, will bid for a 10th title, while Japan, back-to-back winners in 2014-18, will target a third under their first foreign coach, Nils Nielsen.
Reclusive North Korea, drawn with China in Group B, will go for a fourth trophy and first since 2008.
The top two teams in each of the three groups advance to the quarter-finals along with the two next best-placed teams.
The emerging nations in the field will fight hard given the World Cup berths on offer for the last time.
The windfall from reaching Brazil 2027 would prove transformational for a team like world number 112 Bangladesh, the lowest-ranked nation to ever qualify for the Asian Cup.
The four semi-finalists earn automatic berths to Brazil, with the four losing quarter-finalists playing off for another two spots.
All quarter-finalists seal a spot in Asia’s Olympic qualifying tournament for Los Angeles 2028 where the continent is granted two berths in the 16-nation competition.
