Teagan Micah, fresh off her debut against Sweden, has a familiar face in her corner at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
From training at the Goalkeeping Australia Academy as a child to now representing her country on the biggest sporting stage in the world, her career has come full circle.
Shot-stopper Micah has perfected her trade all over the world, from Norway to the USA, but her humble start began in sunny Queensland.
Hailing from Redcliffe, Micah always loved playing sport and would eventually join the Goalkeeping Australia Academy in 2010 at age 13, where she trained under the Matildas goalkeeping coach John Gorza.
During her first year at the academy, Teagan represented her home state at the National Championship, where she was named in the All-Star team.
Impressing coaches at the time she was eventually called up to the Australian under-13 team to compete in the AFC Festival of Football.
Micah would go on to represent Queensland a further three times at the National Championship, being named in the All-Star team on each occasion and earning praise from many coaches.
Her talent was recognised by W-League coaches, signing with Brisbane Roar at age 16 for the 2013/14 season.
Her two-year tenure at the Roar saw her serve as the backup keeper, however, a wealth of experience and confidence was gained training alongside German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer.
Her hunger for a starting goal-keeping position saw her bid farewell to Queensland and sign with the Western Sydney Wanderers for the 2015-16 season, making her W-League debut at 18 where she made five appearances for the Wanderers.
Micah then received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when she was awarded a full football scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2016.
Her freshman season saw Teagan play every minute of every game, including nine clean sheets in her first year. She was named Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week three separate times.
Her standout season at UCLA saw Teagan get her first call up to the Matildas squad for the 2017 Tournament of Nations.
Australia won the tournament and Micah gained invaluable experience and her talent was showcased in front of the Australian coaches.
Her experience in and around the team impressed coaching staff and players, with Micah earning herself a call-up to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad.
She would add to her wealth of experience, training alongside number one shot-stopper Lydia Williams. Teagan completed her tenure at UCLA in 2019, graduating with a Bachelor of Psychology and football experience beyond her years.
Micah returned to Australia for another crack at the W-League, but unfortunately, she sat on the bench for Melbourne Victory in their 2019/20 season, unable to trouble Casey Dumont for the starting position.
She would again jet off halfway around the world to sign with Norwegian Toppserien side Arna-Bjørnar.
Micah played all 12 games for the side and gained confidence in this top-level league.
The winter break for the Norwegian league saw her travel back to Australia, signing with cross-city rivals Melbourne City. She would finally earn the starting goal-keeping role and was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year for her breakout season, impressing W-League fans around the world.
Micah then returned to Norway, signing with Arna-Bjørnar rivals IL Sandviken.
Under new coach Tony Gustavsson, Teagan would earn another call-up and get the chance to make her debut, starting in the Matildas' friendly against European powerhouse Sweden.
Micah explained that she was nervous at first but was eager to “get it over with” and after some crucial saves in the first half, she showed why she had earned the starting spot, achieving a clean sheet on debut and being awarded player of the match.
Although kilometres away from home, Micah had a familiar face cheering from the sideline. Her former coach at the Goalkeeping Australia Academy, now the goalkeeping coach for the Matildas, John Gorza, who was quite emotional, seeing the player he helped train at 11 years of age, representing her country on the biggest stage.
Her inclusion in the squad for Tokyo 2020 was a no-brainer after this standout performance.
Micah was again chosen as the starting goalkeeper for the Matildas final warm-up match against Olympic host nation Japan, producing some marvellous saves to deny Japan a goal in the first half.
When asked about her call-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Micah admitted it had not sunk in yet but was eager to get the games underway. At just 23 years of age, Teagan believes that the Olympics will be the highlight of her career so far.