{"id":310312,"date":"2025-11-26T16:49:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/310312\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T16:49:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:49:17","slug":"matildas-prepare-to-face-new-zealand-with-one-eye-on-2026-asian-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/310312\/","title":{"rendered":"Matildas prepare to face New Zealand with one eye on 2026 Asian Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Caitlin Foord says the Matildas are mindful they cannot waste any time in the build-up to next year&#8217;s Asian Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The Matildas are in camp for their final two matches before the Asian Cup kicks off in Australia on March 1.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-11-25\/michelle-heyman-uncomfortable-with-missing-alw-for-matildas\/106052640\" data-component=\"FullBleedLink\" class=\"RelatedCard_link__rsgR9 FullBleedLink_root__lTw_U interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU FullBleedLink_showVisited__g3Xvz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Heyman &#8216;uncomfortable&#8217; with missing ALW for Matildas<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_synopsis__cFwMW Typography_sizeMobile14__u7TGe Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Michelle Heyman is &#8216;uncomfortable&#8217; with the A-League Women continuing without international players as the Matildas prepare for their last matches before the AFC Women&#8217;s Asian Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">They play New Zealand in Gosford on Friday night, before the two teams meet again in Adelaide on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The Matildas have produced mixed results since Joe Montemurro took over as coach in June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">They host New Zealand off the back of a frustrating 3-0 defeat to European champions England in October, which proved a reality check.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We need to get the most out of these games [against New Zealand],&#8221; Foord said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We have to tighten up what didn&#8217;t really go well last camp and really make the most of these two games, because it is the final prep that we have.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;Once we get into camp before the Asian Cup it&#8217;s going to come really fast.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A soccer player wearing yellow and green and pink shoes runs during a game.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/958aae22bbed9f6d008bb861d9b473ea\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Sam Kerr is set to play for the Matildas against New Zealand. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Sam Kerr is set to play on home soil for the first time in two years after initial doubts over her fitness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\"><a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2025-11-20\/matildas-captain-sam-kerr-left-out-by-chelsea\/106030886\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106030886\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kerr was rested for two consecutive matches by Chelsea<\/a> as part of her rehabilitation following the knee injury she suffered at the beginning of 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;She&#8217;s [Kerr] here, and she&#8217;s been part of training, so she looks fine to me,&#8221; Foord said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caitlin Foord says the Matildas are mindful they cannot waste any time in the build-up to next year&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3443,41432,64,63,43256,596,24011,44964,44965,13198,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-310312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-adelaide","9":"tag-asian-cup","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-caitlin-foord","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-gosford","15":"tag-matildas","16":"tag-sam-kerr","17":"tag-soccer","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}