Three wins from three games that is all Matildas coach Joe Montemurro is focused on and he is confident the team can pull that off regardless of who is on the pitch.
Montemurro’s decision on which 11 players will start the match in front of an expected sold out crowd at Cbus Stadium on Thursday night will have more to do with who he needs at full fitness for the following match just 48 hours later.
Montemurro said things such as on-field partnerships and connection would be taken into account when choosing the starting side but ultimately it was about ensuring the best team possible was fit for the game against South Korea.
As it stands South Korea are top of the group on goal difference as they defeated Iran 3-0. They are also the team that knocked the Matildas out of the Asian Cup back in 2022.
Goal difference will only come into play if the Matildas and South Korea are on equal points at the end of the group stage.
“We are going out to win all three games, so goal difference doesn’t really come into consideration,” Montemurro said.
“We go out to get results, with three points against Iran and then (South) Korea, we want to finish this group on nine points.”
The Matildas go into the game on the back of a 1-0 win over the Philippines. Sam Kerr, Katrina Gorry, Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso all started that match and played big minutes.
Montemurro didn’t hide the fact he would be heavily rotating players for the game with Iran.
“Looking at the schedule before the actual tournament started we knew there was a (tight) turnaround between games two and three and games two and three were the difficult ones in continuing the momentum,” he said.
“Logic says there will be some rotation in (Thursday) night’s game but also in preparation for us to come, to make sure the squad is in good shape.
“We’ve got a great group and whoever comes in we’ll keep the standards high.”
He confirmed Mary Fowler was available and while goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold was fit for selection hinted back up keeper Chloe Lincoln could be called on again.
“Macca is fine, there is no real issues,” Montemurro said.
“They’ve both been training well it’s really to just look forward no and just see what we need to get out of (Thursday) night’s game and also looking forward.
“It’s one of those, if we play her on Thursday night and then we look at the recovery, the recovery is tight, so we just need to see who’s going to recover better.”
Last time the Matildas played Iran was in 2023, an Olympic qualifier in Perth. Matildas triumphed in a hard-fought 2-0 win.
Matildas will play Iran at Cbus Stadium on Thursday night at 8pm (AEDT).