Alleway hoping to refine Westfield Matildas’ game plan during U.S. tour
Westfield Matildas defender Laura Alleway is confident her teammates will rise to the occasion when they clash with the United States in a friendly on 5 April (AEDT).
The Australians, ranked sixth in the world, are beginning to assemble in Colorado ahead of the match-up with the world number one Americans.
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Alleway said she couldn’t wait to take on the defending World Champions.
“I love playing against America,” Alleway told www.matildas.com.au.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces for a lot of the girls as a lot of people play in America now and it’s just a massive rivalry.
“When you’re number one, you’re the team to beat so everyone loves playing against them and it’s no different with the Matildas.
“We don’t shy away from a tough challenge, if anything we’ll rise to the occasion."
Alleway was quick to stress the importance of continuing to build under new head coach Ante Milicic off the back on an unbeaten Cup of Nations.
“It’s massive [the game],” Alleway said.
“Obviously we had the three games at home, that was a really good stepping stone.
“It will just be another challenge and if we can go out there and perform the way we know we want to it’ll just be another feather in our cap, improve our confidence and keep the positivity rolling.”
The 29-year old explained the time in camp was crucial to helping refine the way Milicic, in charge until after the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019tm, wants the group to play.
“I think we made massive strides in terms of our positivity and our on-ball performances and I think that we just want to grow from there, keep on aiming higher to possess the ball and get as many passes as we can each match,” she said.
“We’re really focusing on ourselves and I really like that about Ante’s style and I think it’s going to be no different going into the U.S. game.
“I imagine it will be a lot of the same that we covered in Australia so a lot of on-ball stuff, technical stuff, getting our tactics right.
“The training sessions were so good when we were in Australia, the intensity was really high and I think Ante wants to keep driving that higher and higher to get us as fit as we can be.”
It’s an exciting time for Alleway off the pitch as well with the defender revealing some big news.
“I got engaged to my boyfriend who I guess is now my fiance and we’re looking to get married later on this year,” Alleway explained.
“He’s American but he’s going for us so it’s fine!"