By Anna Harrington, AAP
Fear not – there won’t be any friendly fire in Matildas camp ahead of their huge Women’s World Cup semi-final against England.
That’s because there’ll be barely anyone on the track.
With a four-day turnaround between the mentally and physically draining quarter-final triumph over France and Wednesday’s final-four clash at Stadium Australia, recovery is on the cards.
Heavy legs will be stretched and eased back into action, while bruised bodies will be spared any load beyond the 120 minutes and penalties players spent on their feet on Saturday night.
It’s all about chasing that spot in the final.
“We’ve got the best medical staff in the world,” midfielder Katrina Gorry said.
“So we’ll be doing a lot of recovery. We get to Sydney, sleep as much as we can, eat as much as we can, drink as much as we can and be ready.”
Time on the pitch will be replaced by meetings, tactical work and treatment.
“What is good is that we have continuity with what we are doing and clear playing styles,” coach Tony Gustavsson said.
“We don’t really need to train to be tactically prepared.
“It is more about making sure we are mentally and physically prepared for the semi-final coming up. These players are on a mission.”
Gorry, Alanna Kennedy, Clare Hunt, Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross have played at least 476 minutes of a possible 480.
Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler and Emily van Egmond have also been busy, while Sam Kerr played 65 of her 75 minutes to date against France.
England only needed 90 minutes to complete a 2-1 comeback win over Colombia but previously went to penalties against Nigeria.
Between injuries, suspension and a formation change, England have rotated their squad more.
Only Alex Greenwood and Millie Bright have played every minute but Lucy Bronze, Georgia Stanway and Rachel Daly have also carried significant loads.
It makes who can go the distance, if required, an intriguing proposition.
Catley had a compression bandage on her right thigh upon arrival in Sydney on Sunday.
On Saturday night, Cooney-Cross had one of her shins iced after a nasty challenge early in the game.
Catley hailed and backed her team’s fitness and commitment.
“It’s just using years of hard work, years and years of running and conditioning and everything that you know, you’ve put in the work and prepared for, it prepares you for moments like that,” she told reporters.
“You can fall back on the work that you’ve done, and I’ve done plenty of it and so has every other girl out there and I think that’s what it comes down to.
“It’s the work you’ve put in and the understanding of each other and helping each other and if someone’s struggling someone else steps in and helps.
“So that’s where we are as a team right now and everyone’s there for each other – if one person falls down, the next steps up and it’s very, very special.”
