Tony Gustavsson says “every minute counts” as World Cup looms

• The Women’s World Cup preparations will put Australia’s team.
• A test of talent and endurance, but coach Tony Gustavsson believes.
• Having the advantage of playing on home soil will help the team advance.

Tony Gustavsson brings his group into the games against the Canadians with a large group of vital participants absent as Ellie Carpenter.

Hayley Raso, Steph Catley, Tameka Yallop, Chloe Logarzo, Caitlin Foord, and Kyah Simon are undeniably sidelined.

The Australians will co-have the 32-group finals in July and August with neighbors New Zealand, and Gustavsson cautioned against smugness in front of his side’s most recent readiness matches.

The Matildas lost the first of two matches against Olympic heroes Canadians 1-0 on Saturday before a horde of 25,016 at Lang Park in Brisbane. The groups meet again in Sydney on Tuesday.

“Everyone talks about ‘it’s almost a year to the World Cup’,” Gustavsson told reporters.

“But we actually broke all the FIFA windows down and we have five FIFA windows, that means we have 46 days.

“Out of those 46 days, 14 days go to travel and recovery. That leaves us with 32 days. Out of those 32 days before the World Cup roster is announced, it’s going to be 11 games and 11 pre-game sessions.

“That leaves us with 10 proper training sessions; 10 sessions where we can play 11 v 11 and work on all the details.

The Australians have won just eight of the 24 games they have played since Gustavsson was named in 2020, however the Swedish coach called for additional support for his group from the nation’s wearing local area.

“When you believe, it means you can achieve something that is more than expected of a team,” he said.

“And the one thing (that) is for certain is I have this job because I believe in this team, and I know the process we’re into, the players believe in the process, and believe in this team as well.

“Look at what England did in the Euros, for example, with the home nation supporting them. If we can believe, then it’s going to be a very, very interesting World Cup.”

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