The idea another World Cup could be a bridge too far for a host of Matildas veterans made Wednesday’s crushing 3-1 loss to England a “tough one to swallow” for Katrina Gorry.
At 31, Gorry is among seven players aged over 30 in coach Tony Gustavsson’s current squad, many of whom were crucial to the two-year build-up to a home World Cup where glory was within touching distance before the loss to the Lionesses.
Gorry said while the entire group was feeling the pain of defeat, after the entire country rallied behind the Australian team, some would realise it was their best chance at tasting World Cup success.
“Everyone’s gonna be hurting. I think the veterans probably more – we don’t really have another World Cup in us,” Gorry said after the game.
“It sucks. A lot of emotions. It’s a tough one to swallow at the moment.”
Veteran defender Clare Polkinghorne, 34, Tameka Yallop, 32, back-up goalkeeper Lydia Williams, 35, and the injured Kyah Simon, 32, are among the squad’s oldest players.
Even star skipper Sam Kerr, who is 29, Steph Catley, 29, Caitlin Foord, 28, Alanna Kennedy, 28, Hayley Raso, 28, and Emily van Egmond, 30, may not be at the peak of their powers, or even playing, when the 2027 World Cup comes around.
The emergence of the next generation of stars like 21-year-old Mary Fowler and Kyra Cooney-Cross, who is also only 21, loom as the nucleus of the team going forward and building blocks for future success.
Catley, who has every intention of playing for a little bit longer to “push for some more trophies”, said the learning experience for the squad throughout the tournament would help sustain the Matildas’ success.
“It does take a while and I think we’ve made enough quarter-finals, enough round of 16s,” she said.
“You learn a lot from those moments and some of these young girls that have just stepped in and they‘ve now played in a semi-final, they’re gonna learn so much and they’re gonna be so much more prepared for the next time it comes around and that’s something that a lot of us haven’t had.
“So the fact that they‘ve got that now so early in their careers is massive.
“Some of the players that we’ve seen come through: Mary, Kyra, the way they’ve performed, Clare Hunt, there’s so many.
“They just stepped up – they look so ready, they’ve got long careers ahead of them and hopefully we’re developing loads more girls that can come in and step in when they need to.
“Hopefully, us old ducks can hold on a little bit longer and push for some more trophies.”
#Veteran #Australian #players #wont #World #Cup #chance
