With the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 fast approaching, time is gradually running out for players to prove themselves in the international windows.
While England will be hosting the second edition of the Arnold Clark Cup this month, FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosts, Australia, will stage the 2023 Cup of Nations, a competition of the same calibre where the CommBank Matildas will face Czechia, Spain and Jamaica.
Australia and Arsenal forward Caitlin Foord spoke to the media ahead of the tournament. Foord said that she couldn’t wait to be back in her home country with the squad and she thinks that the 2023 Cup of Nations is a great opportunity to see where the Australian girls are at heading into the summer.
“I think any opportunity to play for a trophy makes it a bit more exciting because you’re playing for something,” Foord said. “You have that feeling of pressure, having to win and results matter which is the only way to prepare for a tournament.
“We’re playing against world-class opponents as well and it will be a good test to see where we’re at and where we can get better.
“I think it’s a massive challenge; being at a club where you’re in day in, day out and to come to the national team and only have 10 days to work together, it shows how quickly we can switch and how much we can get done in that time.”
Facing three vastly different opponents will allow the CommBank Matildas the opportunity to implement different tactics and set up the team in different ways.
“Spain are a possession-based team and you have to be realistic going into those games, knowing that you’re not going to touch the ball too much and how you deal with that,” Foord said. “Jamaica are fast and powerful with players all across the team like that, so that will be a different challenge and I’ve never played Czechia before so that’s new in itself. In the World Cup, you can come up against teams you’ve never faced before, so it’s good preparation.”
Foord is in fine form for club and country with six goals so far in the current campaign across all competitions for Arsenal and five in the gold and green of Australia since September.
“I think it’s a confidence thing,” Foord said. “I’m a confidence player and when I feel good, I feel that reflects on the field. I’ve always wanted to carry over into the national team what I can do at my club, being able to bring the same standard and level to each game and I want to keep building on that.”
Australia begin their 2023 Cup of Nations campaign with a fixture against Czechia on Thursday morning.
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