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Matildas friendlies in April 2026

Leticia McKenna coming on in the 78th minute for the Matildas, replacing Alex Chidiac to make her debut in the senior national team setup, becoming Tillies cap number 243 and the first debutant for the side since July last year.
 
They way we’re playing a rotated Tillies side (aka the bench plus Teesh) would beat the senior girls. We really aren’t good against African teams (see Nigeria and Zambia).
 
Holly McNamara scores in the 86th minute for the Matildas to get only her second ever international goal and make the score 4-0 near the end of regulation time. Jamilla Rankin with the assist.
 
Leticia McKenna scores in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time for the Matildas to get her first ever international goal on debut and make the score 5-0. Hayley Raso with the assist.
 
Full time at the Nyayo National Stadium, with the Matildas running out 5-0 winners over Malawi on FIFA Series opening day to advance to the final against either India or hosts Kenya.
 
To be fair many of the Matildas players would be exhausted after the match given the conditions but definitely Hayley Raso should not be given game time for the final on Wednesday as part of playing list rotation.
Could we try something like this maybe?

IMG_1886.jpeg
I did my best here to rotate as much as possible using the current squad. A couple of familiar and experienced faces are in there as fillers. I’ve suggested testing a new (for us) and rarely used formation: 3-1-5-2. Three at the back is used by Jamilla Rankin’s Hoffenheim as well as Jacynta Gala (not picked) and Jess Nash’s Sassuolo. A defensive midfielder in Clare Wheeler to make space, then four attacking midfielders and two strikers for a strong and mostly youthful attack. Morgan Aquino would make her début in goals with that lineup too, as she has no caps to her name just yet.

Personally I just wanna do a similar set of friendlies next window and start from scratch though. Like that’s literally the best lineup I could make without using too many senior players whilst still having each player in their actual position or a position they can actually play. I know Kaitlyn Torpey usually plays wing back but she has played as a forward and midfielder before. I also wanted to see if three at the back could work. We’re used to four at the back because of our defensive depth but in matches that we wanna be more attacking in then we could try three at the back and multiple strikers or attacking midfielders.
 
I love that they (and the Dub girls) still do this!!! I think they’ve inspired some other teams to do it too, e.g. at the Asian Cup!!!
Nairobi is to be the biggest UN base city so a lot of people from around the world live there. My Australian friend moved there as his German wife teaches at the German school. Lots of Europeans and Australians based there.
 
Nairobi is to be the biggest UN base city so a lot of people from around the world live there. My Australian friend moved there as his German wife teaches at the German school. Lots of Europeans and Australians based there.
Ahh that makes sense! I did know the UN had a lot of stuff there but that didn’t come to mind when I first thought about it. The UNON in Nairobi is one of four major UN headquarters and the only one in the developing world (the UN calls it the “Global South” though that’s not really an accurate term since Australia and NZ are in the “Global North”).
 
Could we try something like this maybe?

View attachment 6356
I did my best here to rotate as much as possible using the current squad. A couple of familiar and experienced faces are in there as fillers. I’ve suggested testing a new (for us) and rarely used formation: 3-1-5-2. Three at the back is used by Jamilla Rankin’s Hoffenheim as well as Jacynta Gala (not picked) and Jess Nash’s Sassuolo. A defensive midfielder in Clare Wheeler to make space, then four attacking midfielders and two strikers for a strong and mostly youthful attack. Morgan Aquino would make her début in goals with that lineup too, as she has no caps to her name just yet.

Personally I just wanna do a similar set of friendlies next window and start from scratch though. Like that’s literally the best lineup I could make without using too many senior players whilst still having each player in their actual position or a position they can actually play. I know Kaitlyn Torpey usually plays wing back but she has played as a forward and midfielder before. I also wanted to see if three at the back could work. We’re used to four at the back because of our defensive depth but in matches that we wanna be more attacking in then we could try three at the back and multiple strikers or attacking midfielders.
I have a similar lineup but different formation:

team (1).png
The formation used here is an asymmetric version of a 4-3-3 formation with just a left winger and two strikers as opposed to the traditional sole striker and two wingers on both sides, with Izzy Gomez and Remy Siemsen up front and Holly McNamara taking on the left winger role. I've gone for four at the back also and three midfielders, but Leticia McKenna and Amy Sayer can move into attacking midfield positions and Clare Wheeler can be a defensive midfielder. Morgan Aquino starts between the sticks in this case although Chloe Lincoln could be starting keeper as well.
 
I have a similar lineup but different formation:

View attachment 6358
The formation used here is an asymmetric version of a 4-3-3 formation with just a left winger and two strikers as opposed to the traditional sole striker and two wingers on both sides, with Izzy Gomez and Remy Siemsen up front and Holly McNamara taking on the left winger role. I've gone for four at the back also and three midfielders, but Leticia McKenna and Amy Sayer can move into attacking midfield positions and Clare Wheeler can be a defensive midfielder. Morgan Aquino starts between the sticks in this case although Chloe Lincoln could be starting keeper as well.
Looks good but why just a left winger? Why not try Izzy Gómez on the right?
 
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