Sermanni and Prior on playing in Newcastle, continuous improvement, and building towards the Asian Cup

CommBank Matildas Interim Head Coach Tom Sermanni and defender Natasha Prior spoke to media in Newcastle on Monday morning at the official squad announcement press conference ahead of the April international window.

The CommBank Matildas will take on Korea Republic on Friday, 4 April in Sydney and Monday, 7 April in Newcastle.

“They are very important games,” Sermanni said.

“If you look back a few years, Korea knocked us out of the Asian Cup in the quarter-finals [in 2022]. It shows how high quality of a team they are. It’s going to be a very difficult contest, a very tough game.

“The important thing is, with the Asian Cup coming up in March next year, all of these games become very, very critical.”

He said that taking on Korea Republic in particular was an important building block towards the tournament.

“They're among the top-level teams that we're going to face at the Asian Cup next year,” he said.

“So them, China, Japan - those three in particular are countries that we have to have a really good, critical look at. Then, when we go into the Asian Cup next year, have a really good idea of how we play against them.”

Prior echoed her coach’s thoughts, expressing that this window is perfect for building confidence ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2026™.

“I think we’ve been on a little bit of a downward trajectory for the last couple of games,” she reflected.

“Hopefully we can get a result [against Korea] and build a bit more confidence as a team.

“That’s what I’d like to go on. Get a clean sheet – I can help with that – and also hopefully we get a win, just to continue building towards the Asian Cup next year.”

Every squad announcement provides a certain amount of intrigue, particularly at a time when there are so many players vying to be selected in a squad that can only contain 23 players.

Sermanni touched on the process of putting together the players that will make up the team for the April window.

“A squad's always a mix,” he began.

“You have your regulars, that you could probably name now for the Asian Cup next year. Then you have a group of players - which in the Matildas at the moment, is quite a significant number - who are really fighting for that spot in the 23 for next year.

“There's lots of competition going on in that area. Over the last few months, we've brought several new players in and had a look at them. We continue to expand the squad and continue to expand the competition within the squad.

“It’s a process, and the key thing - particularly with the national team - is to make sure you get the process right when you go into the major tournaments.”

He said that the key for this squad in this window was to help get their “swagger” back.

“The key thing for us is to get the confidence back in the team, and get a bit of the swagger back, if you like,” he said.

“The Matildas have got style of play, and we need to get back to that style of play. That's a really positive approach to the game, getting out there to really put the opposition under pressure, and to start the game on the front foot.

“I looked back over the last several months and a lot of our main games, we've actually started off quite slowly and conceded goals early in the game. That's something that we need to try and rectify.”

The press conference was held in Newcastle where the second game of the window will be played.

Sermanni said that he was very much looking forward to playing in front of a loud Novocastrian crowd.

“This is one of the historic areas in football. A lot of our football started up in this area,” he said.

“It's very much an area that produces football players for national teams, for Matildas, for Socceroos. It's a blue-collar town, it's a supporting town. We're looking forward to coming up here, and for people to come out and watch the Matildas.”

Prior plays her football in Newcastle for the Newcastle Jets. She said it was “special” to play in Newcastle, regardless of what shirt she is wearing.

“Regardless of the jersey that you wear, whether it's for Newcastle or the Matildas, it feels pretty special to play at McDonald Jones [Stadium],” she said.

“You know, anytime the fans pull together, it feels very special. It doesn't matter to me which jersey it is. It feels pretty special to be able to play football here in Newcastle.

“Women's football is big globally, and I think there's a special place for it in the hearts of Novocastrians. We get so many fans at our games just with Newcastle [Jets], so hopefully they can all come out. It'll be a loud game for sure.”

COMMBANK MATILDAS | MATCH SCHEDULE | MARCH /APRIL 2025

CommBank Matildas v Korea Republic 
Date: Friday, 4 April 2025
Kick-off: 8.00pm AEDT
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
TV Broadcast: Network 10, 10 Play and Paramount+ 
Radio Broadcast: ABC Listen App
Tickets: matildas.com.au/tickets