“She’s a big figure within our team and she has been for a long time. So we’re just really, really happy to have her back. We don’t want any pressure on her or anything. We understand she’s been out for a long time and for us, we just really want her to get back to enjoying football and I think the goals will come with that,” Micah said.
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The addition of the two matches against New Zealand will also provide Montemurro with more time to assess the rest of his squad ahead of selection for the 2026 Asian Cup. Key questions remain as to who will captain Australia during the tournament, whether Mary Fowler (who travelled to Wales but won’t play) will recover from her ACL injury in time, and who will be Australia’s first-choice goalkeeper between World Cup keeper Mackenzie Arnold and Teagan Micah, whom Montemurro selected for his first game as coach in June.
“That’s obviously my main goal,” said Micah, who didn’t believe the competition between her and Arnold was any different than it has always been within the keepers on the squad.
“We’ve always had a very competitive goal keeping union in itself,” she said.
Meanwhile in Sydney, Garriock said Montemurro had “hit the ground running”.
“You can see his style, his philosophy, his possession-based football … They haven’t got long until the Asian Cup and our first game in March, so this preparation is critical, particularly playing against our number one rivals, which is New Zealand,” she said.
The two sides have met more than 50 times, but this will be their first meeting since 2022, when Australia won 2-1.
