{"id":232993,"date":"2026-03-13T02:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/matildas-boss-cheeky-solution-to-major-dilemma-ahead-of-do-or-die-asian-cup-clash\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T02:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:11:00","slug":"matildas-boss-cheeky-solution-to-major-dilemma-ahead-of-do-or-die-asian-cup-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/matildas-boss-cheeky-solution-to-major-dilemma-ahead-of-do-or-die-asian-cup-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Matildas boss\u2019 cheeky solution to major dilemma ahead of \u2018do-or-die\u2019 Asian Cup clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Matildas coach Joe Montemurro joked about a radical role change for one of his star players ahead of the host nation\u2019s Asian Cup quarter-final against North Korea in Perth on Friday night. <\/p>\n

Australia will be without Hayley Raso and Steph Catley as the experienced pair are both sidelined with concussion.<\/p>\n

\ufeffGet all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re tracking well. They were very close, but they won\u2019t be included in the squad tomorrow,\u201d Montemurro told reporters on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Arsenal gun Catley\u2019s absence leaves a glaring hole in the Matildas defence and when asked on match eve how to cover her loss, Montemurro provided a light-hearted response.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam Kerr is playing at left-back,\u201d Montemurro said as he grinned at the national team captain who was sitting next to him.<\/p>\n

Catley sustained the concussion in the 3-3 draw with South Korea in Sydney to wrap up the group stage.<\/p>\n

Courtney Nevin was brought off the bench to fill void, and despite struggling, the 24-year-old has been backed to respond in the quarter-final.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got enough backup in our squad and we believe in the back-up that we\u2019ve got to come in,\u201d Montemurro said.<\/p>\n

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PERTH, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 12: Joe Montemurro, coach of Australia talks to the media during an Australia Matildas media opportunity at Perth Rectangular Stadium on March 12, 2026 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is pressure on the Matildas to win on Friday night to not only advance to the semi-finals, but to take the caveats that come with it.<\/p>\n

Win and Australia books their spot at next year\u2019s World Cup in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Lose and the semi-finalists on home soil three years ago will have to battle it out with the other quarter-final losers for one of two remaining World Cup places. <\/p>\n

The Matildas were knocked out by South Korea at this stage of the last Asian Cup in India three years ago.<\/p>\n

But Kerr stressed that the playing group are recalling the memories of their successful \u201cdo-or-die\u201d clashes in recent times. <\/p>\n

They are hoping for a repeat of performances like the 4-0 win against Canada in Melbourne to make it out of the group at the last World Cup, or the 4-3 extra time victory against Great Britain in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019ve focused on] games when everything was on the line \u2013 it was do-or-die,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n

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PERTH, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 12: Sam Kerr of Australia talks to the media during an Australia Matildas media opportunity at Perth Rectangular Stadium on March 12, 2026 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe girls have brought up the Canada game at the last World Cup, where we had to win to go through and it could have ended in tears that night, but the girls went out there and smashed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously you can think about the heartbreak and stuff, but I don\u2019t actually think it\u2019s valuable in these moments. You need to think of the positives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Matildas picked up 1-0 and 4-0 victories against the Philippines and Iran respectively in the group stage before the thrilling draw with South Korea.<\/p>\n

Kerr feels like her team have improved with every outing and are well placed to raise their level in the knockout stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve been building ourselves up in the tournament. I don\u2019t think yet we\u2019ve had a top performance, but we\u2019re saving that for tomorrow,\u201d Kerr said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good [thing] we haven\u2019t peaked too early, and I think the best is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matildas gear up for North Korea clash | 01:11<\/p>\n

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The last time the two sides met at an Asian Cup was in the final in 2010.<\/p>\n

The Matildas prevailed on penalties on the occasion – it was the last time Australia won the regional tournament.<\/p>\n

The Australians will need to be prepared to withstand some of their opponents\u2019 unusual theatrics.<\/p>\n

In their final group game against China, North Korea stood on the sidelines and refused to the take pitch for several minutes after VAR ruled out a goal.<\/p>\n

But Kerr said they will not be sucked in by any antics of that type.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe honestly don\u2019t know much about (North) Korea every time we play them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s probably their key characteries that they have back then they still have now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey like to run a lot, they\u2019re aggressive, they never give up.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time we have played them it\u2019s been difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are not ready it will be a loss for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be ready to fight from the first minute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matildas coach Joe Montemurro joked about a radical role change for one of his star players ahead of the host nation\u2019s Asian Cup quarter-final against North Korea in Perth on Friday night. Australia will be without Hayley Raso and Steph Catley as the experienced pair are both sidelined with concussion. \ufeffGet all the latest football […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[1800,1641,17337,83,1736,333,2064,70868,1635,20185,1567,23982,149,1425,3744,18535,164,11146,2443,26699,70468,21632,18558,862,34643,1626,1533,28460,1809,1728,1891,369,6068,2588,70872,70869,70871,3740,5429,472,6058,2390,41900,1019,70870,1465,1579],"class_list":{"0":"post-232993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-asia","10":"tag-asian-cup","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-brazil","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-cheeky-solution","16":"tag-china","17":"tag-courtney-nevin","18":"tag-eastern-asia","19":"tag-final-group-game","20":"tag-football-news","21":"tag-getty-images-inc","22":"tag-group-stage","23":"tag-host-nation","24":"tag-india","25":"tag-injury-updates","26":"tag-iran","27":"tag-joe-montemurro","28":"tag-joe-montemurro-press","29":"tag-match-eve","30":"tag-media-opportunity","31":"tag-melbourne","32":"tag-national-team-captain","33":"tag-new-south-wales","34":"tag-north-america","35":"tag-north-korea","36":"tag-northern-america","37":"tag-oceania","38":"tag-paul-kane","39":"tag-perth","40":"tag-philippines","41":"tag-press-conference","42":"tag-quarter-final-losers","43":"tag-quarter-final-preview","44":"tag-radical-role","45":"tag-sam-kerr","46":"tag-south-america","47":"tag-south-korea","48":"tag-south-eastern-asia","49":"tag-southern-asia","50":"tag-star-players","51":"tag-sydney","52":"tag-time-victory","53":"tag-victoria","54":"tag-western-australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}