Australia will want revenge for World Cup – Toone

When the two countries play in a friendly on Tuesday at Pride Park, England midfielder Ella Toone says the game will “feel like a revenge game” for Australia.

In the 2023 Women’s World Cup semi-final in Sydney, England defeated Australia the last time the two teams met.

Steph Catley, the defender for Australia and Arsenal, acknowledged earlier on Monday that the defeat was “the most heartbreaking” of her career.

Off the back of England’s 2-1 defeat by Brazil, who played with 10 players for almost 70 minutes on Saturday, Toone anticipates a more physical game as a result.

It will feel like a revenge match because we broke many people’s hearts at the World Cup. We simply want to put on a powerful performance, said Toone.

“When you lose a game, it’s challenging to recover from it,” says the author. We are aware of the difficulty.

Football has no friendliness, they say. Every game, we aim for success. We want to succeed and, ideally, win.

Toone is well-versed in many of the opponents because the Australia squad has eleven players who play for clubs in the Women’s Super League.

You can learn more about what those players are up to, in my opinion. You are aware of each player’s strengths and weaknesses, she continued.

However, I don’t believe it changes much. No matter who it is, Yuu are making a pitch to put 100% on it.

Both teams have since the 2023 World Cup, according to England manager Sarina Wiegman, with changes to both squads made.

The Matildas are currently under the control of former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro, and the Lionesses have several uncapped players and new assistant coaches.

I didn’t consider it,” I said. We play Australia once more, and I’m just really excited. They are a top-notch team that will challenge us in our desired ways, Wiegman asserted.

Although the WSL has a non-European team, there are many players who already play against one another, making them really close friends.

The first of four friendly matches that will serve as a “homecoming series” to celebrate England’s victory at Euro 2025 was sparked by Brazil’s defeat.

Leah Williamson, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Jess Park, and Grace Clinton, two key players who have been injured, are all missing from the squad.

With goalkeeper Hannah Hampton returning from the sidelines of Saturday’s defeat with a minor elbow injury, Wiegman may find a boost.

Anouk Denton, a West Ham defender, has also been called up to the squad to provide extra protection as they recover from knocks and recover from injury.

Wiegman praised Hampton, saying, “She’s good and she’s progressing really well. So far, she has fulfilled every requirement. Although a second training session is in order, things are looking really good.

We have seen what she can bring, she says. She consistently keeps the score. Any goalkeeper’s first task is to prevent the ball from entering the net together with the other team.

“She also has a great long-distance kick and is very good with her feet.” Her superpower is actually that.

Wiegman claimed that her team have not been guilty of “starting slowly despite finding themselves behind” despite England having conceded first in their previous four games.

We had a strong opening line up against Spain in the Euros final, which we could have won 1-0. We could have scored one goal in the [Italians] semi-final,” she said.

“We didn’t start well against Sweden, and we did it against France.” I don’t agree with the slow starts, but I do agree that we needed to be more active on Saturday because we didn’t have enough momentum.

“We will undoubtedly do everything possible to improve on Tuesday,” the leader states.

At Pride Park (19:00 GMT), England’s game against Australia will be watched by a sold-out crowd.

After the Football Association announced before the game that over 43 000 tickets had been distributed, the attendance at Etihad Stadium for Brazil was 37, 460. A Premier League game in the same city was contested during the Saturday game’s kickoff time.

Wiegman praised Tuesday’s tremendous support as “I think it’s really nice.”

Wiegman noted that “the fans have shown such strong support for us both here in England and in Switzerland for the Euros.”

It is one of the factors that drives our country-wide travel, and it really helps us. It is currently completely sold out, which is incredible. That is never something we assume.