Ellie Carpenter & Tony Gustavsson | Pre-Match Press Conference | AUS v FRA

The CommBank Matildas will play their final game before kicking off their FIFA Women's World Cup campaign next week, hosting France in front of a sold-out crowd at Marvel Stadium tomorrow night.

Head Coach Tony Gustavsson and defender Ellie Carpenter were available to the media during a Pre-Match Press Conference following Australia's MD-1 session at Marvel Stadium.

Gustavsson was asked about player availability and if the 50,000 fans at Marvel Stadium would see a full-strength team. 

"The one thing that will be different is because it's a send-off game and the last friendly before the World Cup I'm also going to consider any niggles and minutes played because it's all about the Ireland game."

"I think it will be a good indicator of a starting lineup but also a finishing lineup," Gustavsson said.

The match, which Football Australia announced today, will be a sell-out crowd of more than 50,000, which will see the crowd record for a standalone Matildas' game broken. 

Defender Ellie Carpenter talked about the feeling of playing in front of a crowd this big on home soil, and the chance to break the record just a week later in Australia's opening game of the tournament at Stadium Australia. 

“That just gives me goosebumps talking about it. I don’t think many of us have played in front of more than 50 or 60 thousand people."

“The feeling (on Friday) is you’re going to think, ‘woah, this is incredible’, and then having in the back of your mind next week is going to be double this,” Carpenter said. 

“When can I ever play in front of my home country, my family like this ever again, so (I’m) just making the most of it.”

After finishing their familiarisation session on Marvel Stadium, Carpenter talked about the field, typically used for AFL, but will host an Australian international for the second time this year after the Subway Socceroos hosted Ecuador there earlier this year. 

“The field’s looking pretty good … a couple of lines are out there, hopefully they put the banners around so I know where the lines are so I don’t go out of the field, but it should be fine,” she said.

The defender will be all too familiar with her opponents for tomorrow night's game, playing alongside a number of them at Olympique Lyonnais. 

“I get to play against some of my teammates who I know very well, and I’m excited to see them,” she said.

CommBank Matildas v France

Date: Friday, 14 July 2023
Venue: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 7:30 pm AEST
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+
Tickets: Buy Tickets Now!