• Updates as the Matildas send off Tom Sermanni at GIO Stadium
  • Kick off time in Canberra is 7.30pm AEST
  • Any thoughts? Get in touch on email or on Bluesky @martinpegan

Kieran Pender is braving the elements in an outdoor press box at GIO Stadium and all set to report on the historic game between the Matildas and Argentina. Thanks for taking one for the team, Kieran!
The crowd is building at Canberra Stadium for what will be a record-breaking encounter between the Matildas and Argentina ? the best-attended women?s sporting event in Canberra history, after tickets were sold out. The crowd will have to battle frigid Canberra conditions; Canberra Stadium is a notoriously cold venue, and the temperature is already in the single digits ? dropping fast.
FA seems to have hit on the right outcome by appointing Montemurro. But unfortunately, the process that landed them here was anything but well executed ? with potential flow-on effects for his tenure.
By the time their new coach takes up his position, the Matildas will have logged five camps under Sermanni and played 13 games ? crucial contact hours Montemurro won?t get. The interim coach has done his best to blood new talent and prepare for the Asian Cup during this time, but the nature of his stop-gap role placed limitations on what he could do.
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