Hayley Raso spoke to the press after the CommBank Matildas defeated England 2-0 on Wednesday morning (AEST).
The winger started the game and played her part in the win that broke the Lionesses' 30-game unbeaten run, which stretched back to 2021.
“Really proud of the performance that the girls put in tonight,” she said.
“It was a really good win for us.”
When asked about the key components of the win, she emphasised the mentality of the team.
“Hard work, effort - we put in a lot of solid tackles,” she answered.
“We knew tonight wasn’t going to be an easy game. We know how tough England are, a lot of us play with the girls week in, week out. I think it was just a massive effort from us. A physical performance.
“I think we had a lot of belief going into this game. We definitely fight hard and I think we work well with our underdog mentality. We came into the game for sure as underdogs and we put in a great shift tonight.”
It was something that came up time and again, and has done throughout the history of the team – that internal belief, and the ability to find something extra when up against the odds.
Raso stated that was the key difference between the defeat against Scotland and the victory over one of the World Cup favourites, England.
“Like I said, there was a lot of belief in the girls tonight,” she explained.
“It was an all-round group effort. When you’re coming off the back of a loss, and a performance that you’re not necessarily happy with, it’s easy to find that belief and turn it around.
“We knew that we were coming up against a very tough opposition in England, and after that defeat we just turned things around.”
The tough conditions on the night didn’t faze her.
“Typical English weather, I’d say,” she joked, referring to the rainy and cold conditions that they faced at Brentford Community Stadium.
Now that it is less than one hundred days until the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, all eyes are on the upcoming tournament.
Raso said that she was looking forward to playing in front of home fans, and that the team would take this performance with them in confidence.
“We have incredible support from back home. We can’t wait to be back playing in front of them,” she said.
“We’re 100 days out, so we’re very close. It’s one of the last games we have before the World Cup so I think [the win] sends a clear message about where we’re at and what we’re fighting for.”