The 2023 Cup of Nations concludes on Wednesday, 22 February at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle when the CommBank Matildas meet fellow FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ participants, Jamaica.
CommBank Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson met with Football Australia’s Media Team to preview the final match day, the camp overall and the exciting upcoming fixture with England announced this morning.
One last game remains in the 2023 Cup of Nations, with Australia facing Jamaica on the final matchday. This will be the second meeting between the two sides, with the last fixture seeing Australia defeat the Reggae Girlz 4-1 at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in Grenoble, France.
After a win over Spain on Sunday night, the players used Monday as a recovery day after two gruelling games to start the tournament and long-haul flights for some players.
"We are in a training tournament mode and recovery is key when it's a lot of games in a short, short time, we need to maximize the recovery."
"It's been all the recovery strategies, you can imagine. Hopefully, we'll see that on the pitch tomorrow that we have recovered well."
Australia's game against Spain saw some familiar faces make their first appearances of the year, Caitilin Foord, Elise Kellond-Knight and Courtney Nevin all came off the bench in the victory. Gustavsson talked about the player's availability for the upcoming game.
"In World Cup, we wouldn't reveal anything in terms of player availability. What I can say is that I will get some answers tonight after this training and then I'll work from that in tomorrow's game," he explained.
This game will be a welcome return to Newcastle for the team, last playing at McDonald Jones Stadium against the USA in November 2021, recording a 1-1 draw against the World Number 1.
"Well, first of all, we love playing up there. The support has been amazing. Last time over there was, you know, massive support and the environment was amazing."
"So that fuels us to play the pressing game that we want to play and a high-octane attacking game that we want to play."
"We need to replicate the mindset we need to have going into the World Cup," he said on Tuesday.
"It's a significant opportunity to gather with the fans in the stadium ... and lift the trophy and feel what it feels like to win."
CommBank Matildas v Jamaica
Date: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, NSW
Kick-Off: 7.10 pm kick-off AEDT
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+
Tickets: Buy tickets!