CommBank Matildas forward Michelle Heyman said that wearing the green and gold and playing in Canberra will be “really special.”
She was speaking to media in Canberra – where she plays her club football for Canberra United – ahead of the CommBank Matildas game against Argentina on June 2.
The game in Canberra will be the second in a two-game series, the first of which will take place on May 30 in Melbourne.
“I’ll have my friends and family come down and support me to play the game that I love here, down in Canberra,” she said.
“It’s going to be a really special moment.”
It will be the first time that Heyman has played at GIO Stadium after previously missing out on the opportunity to do so with Canberra United due to injury.
She said that the support in Canberra for women’s football is “incredible.”
“I have a lot of friends and family still knocking on my door trying to find some tickets,” she smiled.
“To see Canberra support the women’s game is incredible. We always have incredible turnout to Canberra United games, so to now see us fill this stadium out [for the Matildas] - it’s an incredible achievement to know that we've got the backing of all of Australia supporting us girls.
“Hopefully, with them cheering us on, they can bring home the win for us.”
With a home AFC Asian Cup 2026™ on the horizon, the next big goal for the 36-year-old Heyman is putting herself in a position to be selected for that tournament.
“I want to make sure that I can put everything I can to be selected for that team,” she said.
“It all starts with finding the back of the net, getting on the field, and just doing the simple things right. So I'll just focus on that until the Asian Cup for now.”
She explained that she has not stopped training since Canberra United were defeated by the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League Women’s elimination final two weeks ago to get her body up to speed for international level.
“I have not stopped! I've been a true professional,” she laughed.
“I've been doing a lot of running programs and in the gym three to four times a week, and just running and running and running, just trying to stay as fit as I can.
“It's pretty much the same program what I did pre-Olympics. My body's getting really used to that workload now, and I'm just really positive and happy to be going back into camp.”
Finally, Heyman was asked about Interim Head Coach Tom Sermanni’s upcoming 150th game in charge of the team. Heyman worked with Sermanni when he was previously Head Coach between 2005 and 2012.
“Tommy is the Matildas,” she said.
“We say it about Polks [Clare Polkinghorne] as well. They're very similar people. He's just an incredible leader and someone that you can really trust in any situation. If you have something that's going on outside of football, he’ll want to have that conversation with you.
“He's a really good guy, and we all show him so much respect because he gives us the same amount of respect. It’s a massive achievement for himself, especially to come back into the system to see how much has changed since his day one.”
COMMBANK MATILDAS | MATCH SCHEDULE | MAY / JUNE 2025
Match One
CommBank Matildas v Argentina
Date: Friday, 30 May 2025
Kick-off: 8.00pm AEST
Venue: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
TV Broadcast: Network 10, 10 Play and Paramount+
Radio Broadcast: ABC Listen App
Tickets: matildas.com.au/tickets
Match Two
CommBank Matildas v Argentina
Date: Monday, 2 June 2025
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEST
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
TV Broadcast: Paramount+ exclusive
Radio Broadcast: ABC Listen App
Tickets: matildas.com.au/tickets
