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Australia has been captivated by the Women’s World Cup and now the Matildas have a chance to reach the final by vanquishing our old rivals, England.
The two sides will square off at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Wednesday night with the contest getting underway at 8pm (AEST).
History awaits either nation with a World Cup final berth on the table for the victor, a place neither has been before.
Everything you need to know ahead of the blockbuster showdown can be found right here, while all the info you need on Australia’s opponent is here.
6.40pm – Matildas’ massive Sam Kerr call
Sam Kerr has been selected to make her starting debut at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Coach Tony Gustavsson has rolled the dice on his superstar striker, despite admitting she is not 100 per cent fit as she manages a calf muscle issue.
It means Emily van Egmond has been moved to the bench. Kerr’s starting position was confirmed in the official team lists announced 90 minutes before kick-off.
Clare Polkinghorne has also been promoted to the starting team with Alanna Kennedy ruled out of the game as a result of an illness.
6.30pm – David Beckham declares war on Australia
English legend David Beckham has sent a good luck message to England’s Lionesses ahead of their Women’s World Cup semi-final.
The video was shared by England’s Twitter account and features Beckham filming himself from MLS outfit Inter Miami’s ground
He said: “Hey girls. I just wanted to say wow. What a tournament it’s been so far.
“It’s been so much fun to watch.
“And we’re all so proud as a nation of what you’ve achieved already.
“But seeing you girls play as a team. It’s been really incredible. So continue to do so.
“Good luck in this next game and just know that our whole nation is behind you. As Always.”
Becks then panned the camera around to daughter Harper Beckham, 12, who was also wishing the team good luck.
5.15pm – Australia accused of cheating as storm erupts
England has accused Australia of cheating with a storm raging just hours before the Matildas’ semi-final.
With sporting relations between the two countries at breaking point after the fiery Ashes series in England, the Pommy press has taken a swipe at Australia after News Corp newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday sent a helicopter to catch a glimpse of England’s final training session.
The stunt has gone down like a lead balloon back in the UK with the notoriously sassy English press firing shots at the entire country — just weeks after the Aussie cricket team retained the urn.
UK newspapers The Sun and The Daily Express shared the news, labelling Aussies “cheats.”
“The cheating Aussies were up to their old tricks when a helicopter was caught spying on England,” The Sun wrote.
“Manager Sarina Weigman was running her Lionesses through their final training session before today’s big match when it was spotted.”
The Guardian wrote the England squad had been “on the end of a spying controversy”.
The London Telegraph’s Luke Edwards wrote: “The underhand methods deployed by a prominent Australian newspaper will anger players and supporters alike”.
The English Football Association has declined to comment on the incident
4.05pm AEST – Federal Minister for Defence “resigns” for one night
Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has rightfully been earning plenty of plaudits for her incredible role in the penalty shootout victory over France in the quarter-finals.
She was also at her best off the pitch in a pre-match press conference yesterday (see below for more details on that one).
Now, she is being handed a whole new portfolio courtesy of Richard Marles, the Minister for Defence in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government.
“Tonight our country faces a grave threat and it comes from the old enemy and I know I’m unable to meet the moment,” Marles jokingly says in a social post on Wednesday.
“This afternoon it’s my solemn duty to resign as Australia’s Minister for Defence and I’ve handed my commission to Mackenzie Arnold.
“As Australia expects, I know in this hour she will do us proud.”
Not bad from a politician.
3.10pm AEST – Kerr and the Matildas complete their team walk
As they have done throughout the tournament, the Matildas have completed their team walk ahead of tonight’s enormous game.
In chilly, overcast conditions in Sydney, captain Sam Kerr and the team took a walk from their team hotel around Darling Harbour.
Following speculation on Tuesday night that Kerr might still be carrying an injury, seen with a heavy ice pack on her right calf, on Wednesday the star striker was bandage and ice pack-free as she completed the walk alongside fellow forward Caitlin Foord.
While there has been speculation Kerr might finally start her first match of the tournament against England, a team she knows well from her time with Chelsea, coach Tony Gustavsson suggested he may stick with the line-up that has worked thus far.
In further proof of the humble nature of this Australian squad, they were warmly greeted and had loads of fans and media for company as they took in some fresh air before turning their minds to the task at hand.
We can only imagine the excitement among the squad about the opportunity that lies ahead in their clash with England, with Australia 90 minutes – or perhaps extra-time or even penalties – away from a World Cup final on home soil.
2pm AEST – Aussie hero shuts down English journo
Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold was at her deflective best against France as she stopped four penalties to guide Australia past their European rivals.
On Tuesday she showed her defensive prowess wasn’t limited to on the pitch as she swatted away an English journalist.
In an attempt to pour fuel on the fire of the longstanding Australia vs England rivalry, the journo pointed out that many back in the UK would be hoping to see them send the Aussies packing.
Arnold wasn’t having it.
“Mackenzie these two countries have a traditional and long rivalry,” he said. “I’m sure there are a lot of England fans back home that would love to see them knock you out of your home tournament. Is the idea of being knocked out by England almost unthinkable to you?”
Stone faced, Arnold replied: “Being knocked out by anyone is unthinkable, I think there’s a lot of English people that would like to see them knock us out but I think there’s more Australians that would love to see England knocked out by us.
“We have so many rivalries with so many different countries, this is just another game for us.”
1:30pm AEST – Matildas set to target English players
Tony Gustavsson knows the semi-final showdown is going to be the ultimate chess battle between the two powerhouse teams.
The Matildas coach spoke during his press conference about whether England would stick to their possession style or change their approach to try to nullify Australia’s extreme danger on the counter-attack.
“When we played them last time (in a friendly in April) we got a good transition game going, but I know that England learned a lot from that game,” Gustavsson said.
“If you saw England playing Nigeria – that is also a very good transition team – England played much more direct than what they normally do so I think they’ve evolved and adjusted their game plan a bit so they’re not just possession based, especially if they choose to play with a back three and two nines that [are] willing to run in behind.
“It will be an interesting tactical game in that sense, is England going to stay true to their possession game? Or are they going to take away our transition game by playing a different style of football than they normally do?”
He declared the Matildas found success during their 2-0 win in that friendly by “target[ting] specifically” two of England’s players – and would do so again.
“We’re prepped for both systems, that they can play 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2. We’ve also played three different systems in this World Cup so we might be flexible and do something different as well,” he said.
“There are some players that, no matter what system they play, they have the very same tendencies.
“And when we played them last time we managed to target specifically two of those players, and we benefited from that tactically.
“So we looked into those nuances and those individual behaviours a little bit more now, instead of the system, and hope that we can target that tomorrow as well.”
The Matildas were missing Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Alanna Kennedy for that 2-0 win, but Hayley Raso gave England fullback Jess Carter a torrid time on the flank – a player that Gustavsson could have been referring to.
Carter has played every minute in four of England’s five games, but was left out of their 1-0 group-stage win over Denmark.
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