The secret behind Matildas star Steph Catley’s perfect penalties at the Women’s World Cup
The secret behind Matildas star Steph Catley’s perfect penalties at the Women’s World Cup
- The secret behind Steph Catley’s perfect punishments has been revealed
- Catley has scored both of her penalties for the Matildas at the World Cup
- Dean Bouzanis says they practiced penalty kicks together
Steph Catley’s fiancé has lifted the lid on how she mastered the perfect punishment at the Women’s World Cup.
Catley has come forward in more ways than one during the tournament Down Under, taking the captain’s armband from the injured Sam Kerr, as well as taking on penalties – usually taken by the Chelsea star.
And she hasn’t let her country down from 12 yards out, scoring the Matildas’ only goal in the opening game against Ireland, before scoring in Canada’s 4-0 defeat in the final group game.
Both penalties were sent with aplomb and Catley’s goalkeeper fiancé Dean Bouzanis – who plays for Championship side Reading – has revealed how he helped her refine her craft.
“When we first started dating, I remember Steph was in Orlando (in the US), and I was in Melbourne City and in my off-season I traveled there, and I had to go on a pre-season training schedule,” he told KIIS FM.
“She decided to take some penalties against me…I’m not going to lie, she didn’t really give me much confidence – her penalties are second to none.”
The pair met while playing for Melbourne City’s men’s and women’s teams, and Bouzanis couldn’t hide his pride in Matildas’ stellar World Cup campaign.
“She’s been brilliant, the whole Matildas have been brilliant, to be honest,” he said.
“It’s not easy to play at home in a World Cup, there’s a lot of pressure in the first few games, especially at home, but what they’ve done, they’ve kicked through, they’re not conceding any goals and they’re going really well.”
“The nerves are gone because the support from the Australian fans has been incredible and the girls really feel it.
“They’ve just gotten stronger and stronger as the tournament has gone on, and the team chemistry they have there is very good.”
Reflecting on how they first met, Bouzanis said: ‘She caught my eye as soon as I got there (Melbourne City), everyone speaks so highly of Steph – the way she is as a person and once we started talking and getting to know each other others we just clicked right away.
“It’s very good because we both understand what it takes to get the best out of our careers, for example there are a lot of sacrifices – I haven’t seen Steph for about eight or nine weeks now… at the start of our relationship I haven’t seen her for six or seven months.’