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Matildas XI
Clare Polkinghorne starts and wears the captain’s armband in her 168th and last appearance for Australia. The defender scored in the Matildas’ back-to-back friendlies against Brazil three years ago and no doubt would love another tonight to sign off in style.
Emily Van Egmond becomes the fourth player to make 150 appearances for the Matildas, drawing equal with Lisa De Vanna and now one cap behind Cheryl Salisbury. Winonah Heatley is very much at the other end of her career and will start after a debut against Germany last month amid a very defensive looking line up.
Matildas: Mackenzie Arnold (gk), Winonah Heatley, Clare Polkinghorne (capt), Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Emily Van Egmond, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Hayley Raso, Caitlin Foord.
While we can hope to see some fresh faces for the Matildas this evening, one of the true stalwarts of the side will be closing the curtain on an illustrious career in her home town Brisbane. Clare Polkinghorne will line up for the national side for the 168th time – a record number of caps for an Australian footballer – since making her debut in 2006.
Our own Jack Snape looks at Polkinghorne’s career in green and gold and what comes next for the former Australia captain (with some kind words from interim coach Tom Sermanni thrown in).
She is the defensive stalwart for the sporting team that has become Australia’s darling, yet after 18 years with the Matildas, Clare Polkinghorne has a clear-cut view of retirement: “I’ll definitely need a job.”
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the women’s international friendly between the Matildas and Brazil at Suncorp Stadium. This is the beginning of a two-match series between the highly-ranked teams, with the second clash to come on Sunday, as Australia return to Brisbane for the first time since the Women’s World Cup last year.
The Matildas and Brazil took different paths through the global showcase as the hosts reached the semi-finals and the visitors were knocked out at the group stage, though they have been heading in opposite directions since then. Brazil have risen to No 8 in the Fifa rankings after their silver medal at the Paris Games, while Australia have slumped to No 15 – their lowest ranking since 2007 – in part due to a disappointing Olympic campaign.
Australia are taking tentative steps towards regeneration since the departure of coach Tony Gustavsson and are likely to field a dash of the old mixed with the new tonight, especially with several stars sitting out. Mary Fowler has joined Cortnee Vine in taking a break from the Matilda’s four-match home series, while captain Sam Kerr is of course still recovering from an ACL injury.
Football Australia revealed about two hours ago that only 1,000 tickets remain for the friendly at Suncorp Stadium, so if you’re still intending to try your luck at the gate I suggest you run, don’t walk. The likely sell-out will make it the 15th home match in a row where the doors are shut behind the Matildas. A competitive showing, perhaps even a victory, feels increasingly critical to ensuring the sheen remains on the women’s team.
Kick-off time in Brisbane is 8pm local / 9pm AEDT. I’ll be back shortly with the line-ups and team news.
In the meantime, get in touch with any comments, questions, thoughts and predictions. You can shoot me an email, or find me on Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social and X @martinpegan. Let’s get into it!
