Matildas coach Joe Montemurro and goalkeeper Teagan Micah excited for Panama clash in Bunbury

Matildas coach Joe Montemurro has vowed his side will not take their foot off the pedal and promised a high-octane performance in the national team’s historic trip to Bunbury. After a five-day break between games, a new look Matildas outfit will face Panama at Hands Oval on Saturday afternoon in their first ever game in regional WA. While stars like Ellie Carpenter, Mackenize Arnold, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Alanna Kennedy have all departed, a host of fresh faces and potential debutants have entered camp. But despite the transitions, Montemurro said the intensity had stayed high. “If I am brutally honest, there’s a few sore bodies in there, but we have to send that message to make sure this is the level we need to be training at, the level they need to take away from the national team,” he said. “But everyone’s been great, even the integration of the young kids has been fantastic with a few of these more experienced players, but we’ve seen a lot of talent. And I’m looking forward to the next two games.” Australia will play Panama again in Perth on Tuesday night, but Montemurro said he was eager for his side to come out firing in their first game. “It’s (about) putting on a show, and it’s great that the game has been spread to some regional areas,” he said. “The more we can spread the game to other other areas, it’s really positive. I’m looking forward to it because we start to see a couple of young players being given some opportunities.” Of the players who have departed the squad, Montemurro hoped they absorbed the requisite information during their time in camp and would be able to hit the ground running during their next international window in October. “The homework is not so much leaving them with a dossier or a book, it’s more an attitude and now they all understand what a training tempo of world class needs to be,” he said. “So they feel it, and more importantly, what are the three or four key sort of scenarios with the ball, without the ball to take away. “Whether the club that they go to plays a different system or a different style, they personally as a player can improve with the messages, principles we bring, that are going to be the base of us being a top team.” Panama are no strangers to WA, having played Jamaica at HBF Park during the 2023 Women’s World Cup and Matildas goalkeeper Teagan Micah said she was prepared for a tough challenge — particularly given the number of changes the Australians were likely to make. “We’re going to going to have to really control the tempo of the game, play to our standards, and they’ve had some good results recently as well,” she said. “The girls have been good, taking all the information on board well and seemed really eager to learn, which is what we want to see and hopefully they’re able to make use of that opportunity.”

Matildas coach Joe Montemurro and goalkeeper Teagan Micah excited for Panama clash in Bunbury

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