Former Australia coach Ante Milicic will put sentiment aside as he guides defending champions China against the Matildas in their Asian Cup semi-final in Perth today.
Milicic coached the tournament hosts in 2019-20 and took them to the last 16 of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France before returning to club football in the men’s A-League.
The 51-year-old joined China in 2024 after they failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics, and has already made his mark at the Asian Cup by punching their ticket to next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Many of Milicic’s 2019 World Cup squad remain in the current Matildas setup, including captain Sam Kerr, forward Mary Fowler and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Milicic said he would always follow the fortunes of the Australian players he coached but would not let his personal feelings get in the way of the job at hand.
“I had great memories from my time there, but ultimately I’m enjoying this journey now with China,” Milicic said. “I’m a better coach, better person, and I’m just really looking forward to the occasion. To be able to lead China here against Australia in a semi-final – that’s a dream.”
China, 17th in the world rankings, have rarely put a foot wrong in the 12-nation tournament.
They saw off highly fancied North Korea in a tense 2-1 win during the group stage before racking up their third clean sheet from four games in the 2-0 quarter-final win over Taiwan.
They will need to find a way to beat Australia without veteran winger Wang Shuang, who is suspended over accumulated yellow cards.
Australia have reinforcements available, with coach Joe Montemurro confirming that mainstay defender Steph Catley and forward Hayley Raso are in the mix after passing concussion tests, having missed the 2-1 quarter-final win over North Korea. Midfielder Emily van Egmond can move past Clare Polkinghorne and become Australia's most-capped player with a 170th appearance for the Matildas.
Meanwhile, a fifth member of the Iranian team has withdrawn her claim for asylum in Australia and rejoined the rest of the squad in Malaysia before they flew out to Oman.
The latest withdrawal leaves only two people of the original six players and one support staff member who sought asylum in Australia last week fearing possible persecution if they returned home.
REUTERS
