Australian coach Tony Gustavsson insists the Lionesses are ‘huge favourites’ in their World Cup semi-final as Matilda’s boss ramps up pressure on Sarina Wiegman’s side
Australian boss Tony Gustavsson pressured England ahead of the World Cup semi-finals as he insisted the Lionesses are ‘huge favourites’ to win Wednesday’s game.
This is the first time the Matildas have ever reached the semi-finals of a World Cup, beating England at this stage in both 2015 and 2019.
Fourth in the world, the Lionesses have more experience in major tournaments, but Australia will be cheered on by a boisterous home crowd of over 75,000 fans.
Gustavsson said the Aussie fans will play a key role in Wednesday’s game, but added England are still the overwhelming favorite to progress to the final.
“If you look at the rankings, it’s the favourites,” said Gustavsson. “If you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs, in top leagues around the world, not just starting eleven, up to 15, 16 (squad members).
Tony Gustavsson says the Lionesses are ‘huge favourites’ to reach the World Cup final
European champions England will face Australia on Wednesday at Stadium Australia
“Compared to us, we have bench players in those teams. We have players who play in mid-table teams in Sweden.
“So when you look at all of that and you look at resources, financially, they’re obviously huge favorites for this game. But the one thing we have that they don’t have is the support and belief of the fans. That in itself will be huge tomorrow.’
Several Australian players play in the England Women’s Super League, including captain and star striker Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley (Arsenal), Alanna Kennedy and Mary Fowler (Manchester City) and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold (West Ham).
Gustavsson highlighted the investment the Football Association has made in women’s football, claiming that their budget is the same amount Australia has for all their national teams put together.
“They may be a little bit ahead of us in investing, in terms of money and resources, the same goes for the national team,” Gustavsson said.
The Matildas enjoy a fairytale journey as they make it to the final four for the first time
“Someone told me that the women’s program in the women’s association has the same budget as all the national teams in our football association, that says a lot about the resources and money they have and that also contributes to the development of the players.
“That means more full-time staff, it means better training facilities, more resources, more full-time players.
“We are at the beginning of that journey and I hope to be sitting here in 10 to 20 years saying that this (the World Cup) was a crossover moment when it comes to investing in women’s football and we can have the same resources. and the same applies.’