Australia coach insists Lionesses are 'massive favourites' in the World Cup
Australia boss Tony Gustavsson heaped pressure onto England ahead of their World Cup semi-final as he insisted the Lionesses are ‘massive favourites’ to win Wednesday’s clash.
This is the first time the Matildas have ever reached the semi-finals of a World Cup while England were defeated at this stage in both 2015 and 2019.
The Lionesses, ranked fourth in the world, have more experience at major tournaments but Australia will be cheered on by a raucous home crowd of over 75,000 fans.
Gustavsson said the Aussie fans will have a key role to play in Wednesday’s game but added that England are still the overwhelming favourites to progress to the final.
‘If you look at rankings they’re favourites,’ Gustavsson said. ‘If you look at where their players play they have starting players in top clubs, in top leagues all over the world, not just starting XI, down to 15, 16 [squad members].
‘Then compared to us, we have bench players in those teams. We have players playing in mid-table teams in Sweden.
‘So if you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game. But the one thing that we have that they don’t have is the support and belief from the fans. That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow.’
Several of Australia’s players play in the English Women’s Super League, including captain and star striker Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley (Arsenal), Alanna Kennedy and Mary Fowler (Manchester City) and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold (West Ham).
Gustavsson highlighted the investment the Football Association has made into women’s football, claiming their budget is the same amount Australia has for all of their national teams put together.
‘They might be a little
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
