Tony Gustavsson has named his starting XI and it looks very, very familiar – except for the No.20 jersey, which is normally worn by injured skipper Sam Kerr.
Instead, defender Kaitlyn Torpey is wearing it. She will become the 227th player to represent the Matildas in an ‘A’ international, and the 22nd to have debuted under Gustavsson.
Torpey is 23 and, until recently, played in the A-League for Melbourne City. Earlier this month she was bought by San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League, where Emily van Egmond also plies her trade.
Gustavsson has named four other defenders – the World Cup starting combination of Ellie Carpenter, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy and Steph Catley – so it remains to be seen where Torpey fits into the puzzle and what formation they actually go with. Perhaps Catley will be used further forward on the left?
The other shock: Caitlin Foord is on the bench. We are told it is a load management decision – she’s been playing a lot of football for Arsenal of late – and not because she is carrying an injury.
Torpey will be the only debutant tonight. The other uncapped player in Australia’s squad, Sophie Harding, has not been named in the match day squad – only 22 players can be put down on the team sheet, and the squad is 23, so someone was going to miss out.
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