Latest news with #HollyMcNamara
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Matildas start a new era with 3-0 win - but the best moment happened off the field with Sam Kerr
Holly McNamara has scored her first international goal but new Matildas coach Joe Montemurro was left with plenty to ponder after his side scratched out an unconvincing 3-0 win over Slovenia in Perth. But arguably the best moments of the win on Thursday night came after fulltime, when Sam Kerr thrilled fans by getting up close and personal with them. One young spectator broke down in tears of joy as she shared a moment with the injured striker, who made a surprise trip to her home town to train with the Tillies as she continues to fight her way back from a knee injury. Emily Gielnik's third-minute strike at HBF Park got the 15th-ranked Matildas off to a flyer, but it wasn't until McNamara scored in the 86th minute that the win was safe. Hayley Raso added the icing on the cake in the 87th minute when she waltzed through the midfield untouched before unleashing a strike from outside the box. Although the 3-0 scoreline looked good on paper, the performance was far from slick in front of a crowd of just 8678. The under-strength Matildas were error-prone throughout the night, especially in defence where they attempted to play their way out of trouble at every chance. Montemurro's possession-based game plan was always going to have teething problems, but the sheer amount of errors will be a huge concern. Things started brightly when Gielnik stayed persistent in a goalmouth scrap to score the opener. But the Matildas' determination to retain possession at all costs led to numerous sloppy turnovers, many of which should have been punished. Time and again, the Matildas opted to go backwards instead of finding the gaps further ahead - leading to problems whenever Slovenia were able to pick off the pass. One such turnover let Spela Kolbl off the leash in the 15th minute, with her floating cross glancing off the crossbar. The Matildas' best opportunities in the first half generally came when defender Ellie Carpenter found some space to charge forward, with her pace and physicality proving hard to stop. The Matildas' worst defensive error of the night arrived in the 52nd minute when Clare Hunt was unaware an opponent was bearing down on her as she attempted a short pass. She got stripped of the ball but was left breathing a huge sigh of relief when Slovenia striker Zara Kramzar fired straight at Matildas keeper Teagan Micah from close range. It was Alanna Kennedy's turn to commit a horror mistake 10 minutes later when her clumsy attempt to control the bouncing ball while running back to defend resulted in a costly deflection. Slovenian substitute Nina Kajzba pounced on the mistake, with her strike forcing Micah to make a fine diving save. McNamara, who has endured three knee reconstructions during her career, was a threat throughout the match. The 22-year-old, playing her 10th international, finally received her reward when she put away a header at the far post following a sublime cross from Raso. 'She's a player that's very, very smart in arriving in space,' Montemurro said of McNamara. 'And what I mean by that she makes her runs very, very late, which is very hard to mark. 'That's a feeling - you can't coach that.' A minute after McNamara's goal, Raso went on a run and curled in a precision strike from the edge of the box. The Matildas went into the international window missing a host of their best players, including injured superstars Sam Kerr (knee) and Mary Fowler (knee). Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry and Cortnee Vine are all on personal leave, while Clare Wheeler left the camp earlier this week due to personal reasons.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Australia beat Slovenia to ensure winning start for Montemurro
An understrength Australia beat Slovenia 3-0 in a friendly in Perth on Thursday to ensure Joe Montemurro's reign as coach got off to a winning start. Montemurro has vowed to implement an attacking, possession-based style with the Matildas, who have started preparations for next year's Asian Cup on home soil. Advertisement It didn't take long for the hosts to take heed of Montemurro's blueprint when forward Emily Gielnik poked in after three minutes. The crowd of 8,678 were left slightly disappointed until Holly McNamara and substitute Hayley Raso scored in the dying minutes to put gloss on the scoreline. "We have to learn to be comfortable under pressure," Montemurro said of the 15th-ranked Matildas. "It was an important exercise tonight, it's about the process going forward." The 55-year-old Australian was appointed coach this month, ending a long search after Tony Gustavsson departed following the Matildas' lacklustre performance at the Paris Olympics. Advertisement Montemurro enjoyed successful coaching stints at Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon, who he recently steered to their fourth consecutive league title. Australia were without English Women's Super League stars Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler and Clare Wheeler. The talismanic Kerr, Australia's leading scorer in international football, has not played since January last year when she ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament with Chelsea. Kerr won't make her long-awaited return in this block of friendlies, but has rejoined the squad and watched the game on the sidelines. After a fast start the Matildas were in danger of letting Slovenia back into the game. Advertisement Forward Spela Kolbl almost equalised in the 14th minute only for her chip to smack off the crossbar. Slovenia kept pressing after the interval, but rued errant finishing with Zara Kramzar's shot from point-blank range straight at goalkeeper Teagan Micah. The 38th-ranked Slovenia's chances of an upset were dealt a blow when midfielder Sara Makovec hobbled off early in the second half with a knee injury. "Something popped in her knee, hopefully she's going to be alright," coach Sasa Kolman said of Makovec, who plays in Austria. The teams meet again at the same venue on Sunday before Australia face Panama in a pair of home friendlies next week. tl/pst
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Matildas vs Solvenia: Joe Montemurro's perfect start as Australia earns 3-0 win
Matildas forward Emily Gielnik gave new Australian women's coach Joe Montemurro the perfect start to his international coaching career less than three minutes into their friendly against Slovenia in Perth on Thursday night. Holly McNamara, who looked dangerous in attack all game, sealed the victory for him 83 minutes later. The 15th-ranked Matildas finished with a 3-0 win over the 38th ranked Slovenia after Hayley Raso followed McNamara into the net one minute later. It was an error-riddled performance from the Matildas though, they were lucky to have kept a clean sheet. New boss Montemurro wants his team to play a possession brand of football and they did that. Australia had almost 60 per cent possession, but a lot of it was in their own half, defending. Slovenia had 20 shots on goal, to the Matilda's 18. The second and final game of this series is on Sunday, ahead of two games against Panama, ranked 56 in the world, on 5 July and 8 July. Welcome back It wasn't the Matildas best squad on HBF Park, with at least half a dozen missing for different reasons. They did welcome a few back, who have missed recent internationals. Ellie Carpenter didn't play in the winning series against Argentina for personal reasons, but slotted straight back in. Raso returned from a quad tendon injury, while Mackenzie Arnold missed the last international window due to a leg injury sustained while playing for Portland Thorns. Raso entered the game in the 75th minute and had an instant impact She passed the ball to give McNamara her first international goal in her 10th appearance. And she scored the last one herself, a gift from Slovenia's defence. Arnold wasn't used, but Montemurro will surely play her on Sunday considering she is not available for the next series, against Panama. My goals Arnold's absence has left Teagan Micah in goal for recent games. She'd done well too and did so again on Thursday. The Matildas played four games this year before this clash with Slovenia, winning all four – two against Argentia and two against Korea Republic. Micah enjoyed clean sheets in three of them, letting in just one goal, against Argentina in a 4-1 win in Canberra on June 2. She had a few nervous moments on Thursday. Some poor passing by Australia's defenders gave Slovenia chances. They looked after Micah in the first half, Maya Sternad spraying one wide from close range and Spela Bolbl hitting the crossbar. Off target Micah was needed much more in the second half though, called upon to make five saves and was awarded with player of the match honours because of them. Slovenia was 5-1 going in international this year before Thursday night, beating Greece, twice, Turkey, twice and Ireland. Hitting the back of the net had not been a problem, scoring 12 goals in those five wins. Zara Kramzar and Lara Prasnikar have been scoring regularly. The radar was off for this pair and their teammate in Perth though. Kramzar had the perfect opportunity to level the game 1-1 in the 52nd minute after being gifted the ball by Matilda's defender Clare Hunt, but kicked it straight to a waiting Micah.. Prasnikar had several realistic scoring chances after half-time, but couldn't convert any of them.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Matildas' Montemurro era off to winning start with 3-0 victory over Slovenia
Holly McNamara has scored her first international goal but Joe Montemurro was left with plenty to ponder after his side scratched out an unconvincing 3-0 win over Slovenia in Perth in his first outing as Matildas coach. Emily Gielnik's third-minute strike in Thursday night's match at HBF Park got the 15th-ranked Matildas off to a flyer, but it wasn't until McNamara scored in the 86th minute that the win was safe. Hayley Raso added the icing on the cake in the 87th minute when she waltzed through the midfield untouched before unleashing a strike from outside the box. Although the 3-0 scoreline looked good on paper, the performance was far from slick in front of a crowd of just 8,678. The under-strength Matildas were error-prone throughout, especially in defence where they attempted to play their way out of trouble at every chance. Montemurro's possession-based game plan was always going to have teething problems, but the sheer amount of errors will be a huge concern. Things started brightly when Gielnik stayed persistent in a goalmouth scrap to score the opener. But the Matildas' determination to retain possession at all costs led to numerous sloppy turnovers, many of which should have been punished. Time and again, the Matildas opted to go backwards instead of finding the gaps further ahead – leading to problems whenever Slovenia were able to pick off the pass. One such turnover let Spela Kolbl off the leash in the 15th minute, with her floating cross glancing off the crossbar. The Matildas' best opportunities in the first half generally came when defender Ellie Carpenter found some space to charge forward, with her pace and physicality proving hard to stop. The Matildas' worst defensive error of the night arrived in the 52nd minute when Clare Hunt was unaware of an opponent bearing down on her as she attempted a short pass and was dispossessed. She was left breathing a huge sigh of relief when Slovenia striker Zara Kramzar fired straight at Matildas keeper Teagan Micah from close range. It was Alanna Kennedy's turn to commit a horror mistake 10 minutes later when her clumsy attempt to control the bouncing ball while running back to defend resulted in a costly deflection. Slovenian substitute, Nina Kajzba, pounced on the mistake, with her strike forcing Micah to make a fine diving save. McNamara, who has endured three knee reconstructions during her career, was a threat throughout the match. The 22-year-old, playing her 10th international, finally received her reward when she put away a header at the far post following a sublime cross from Raso. A minute later, Raso went on a run and curled in a precision strike from the edge of the box. But the team's struggles underlined how much they missed a host of their best players. Sam Kerr (knee), Mary Fowler (knee) and Tameka Yallop (leg) were all out through injury, while Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry and Cortnee Vine are all on personal leave. Australia face Slovenia again in Perth on Sunday, before taking on Panama in Bunbury on 5 July and in Perth on 8 July.
SBS Australia
24-05-2025
- Sport
- SBS Australia
Biggest night since 2023 World Cup fever as nine Matildas set for Champions League finals
Set your alarms and prep the coffee — Australian women's football is about to have one of its biggest nights since Matilda fever gripped the nation during the 2023 Women's World Cup. Across two cities, nine Matildas players will be taking part in what's set to be a big night of women's football as two teams compete in the Champions League finals. The first match will start on Saturday night at 10pm AEST, where Melbourne City will face Wuhan Jiangda in the final of the first full Women's Asian Champions League tournament. Six Australians — including current Matildas Holly McNamara, Bryleeh Henry and Leah Davidson, plus Laura Hughes, Karly Roestbakken and veteran keeper Melissa Barbieri — will be chasing the title and a slice of the $2 million prize pool. "It's so exciting, for it to be the first structured Asian Women's Champions League," McNamara told AAP. "To get all the way to the final as an Australian team is a really good credit to us, and it's something that we've been working towards as soon as we found out about the competition. "Obviously, playing for your country is such a huge milestone, so those games were pretty big in my career. But in terms of club, this is the biggest game by far." Then, four hours later at 2am AEST Sunday morning, three of the Matildas' biggest stars — Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross — will run out in the European Women's Champions League final. Their club, Arsenal, is aiming to upset reigning champions Barcelona in front of a packed crowd in Lisbon. If Barcelona is successful, it would be their third consecutive championship win. Meanwhile, underdogs Arsenal are hoping for an upset and are vying to win their second-ever European title. It's the first time all three women will contest a Champions League final — and they'll be hoping to join the likes of Ellie Carpenter, who is the only Australian woman to lift the trophy after 2020 and 2022 wins with Lyon. The only other Australian to win the tournament is Harry Kewell, who won the 2005 final of the Men's Champions League with Liverpool. Catley said Arsenal had "put ourselves in such an incredible position". "A one-off final. Anything can happen, two amazing teams going at it." "It's the best thing about Champions League football. And there's no place I'd rather be." "Obviously, for Australians that follow Arsenal and that follow us, it's a massive occasion." Catley said the barriers to Australian women's footballers succeeding on the world stage made the feat even sweeter. "There is something special about Australians doing well on the world stage, and I think in particular in European football," she said. "Because anyone that knows world football knows how hard it is to be successful over here, especially in the Champions League, and in European competitions in general." "Playing in a Champions League final is, along with probably a World Cup final, as high as you can get." She believes it can also inspire young Australian footballers. "If you see there's three Australians playing in this Champions League final, then it's definitely possible for them," Catley said - With reporting by Australian Associated Press.
