- Aussies riding high after victory over Argentina in friendly
- Currently without injured lynchpins Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr
Joe Montemurro has been unveiled as the new head coach of the Matildas, ending a 10-month search for a new coach.
Montemurro has signed a three-year deal that runs until the end of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The 55-year-old Australian, who was most recently coaching French giants Lyon, replaces Tony Gustavsson in an appointment which is long overdue.
Gustavsson did not have his contract renewed after last August’s group stage exit at the Paris Olympics and since then the Matildas have been in limbo.
Tom Sermanni will finish up his eight-and-a-half-month stint as interim coach in Monday night’s clash with Argentina in Canberra, with Montemurro set to be in place against Slovenia at HBF Park on June 26.
The Matildas (pictured celebrating a goal in Friday night’s win over Argentina) have finally found their replacement for ex-coach Tony Gustavsson
Aussie Joe Montemurro (pictured) will step into the top job after excelling as the manager of French powerhouse club Lyon
Montemurro will take the reins from caretaker coach Tom Sermanni, who celebrated 150 matches as Matildas manager on Friday night (pictured)
Football Australia had the chance to make a move on Montemurro, who missed out to Gustavsson in 2020, in the months leading up to the Olympics.
The Melburnian coached the A-League Women All Stars in May of last year when he was without a job.
He then signed a deal with Lyon six weeks out from the Paris Games at a time it was widely known Gustavsson had no genuine appetite to extend his deal.
The flow-on effect of FA’s go-slow approach has been that the ageing Matildas squad have been treading water for the best part of a year.
The belated appointment of Montemurro has left Australia up against it heading into next year’s Women’s Asian Cup on home soil.
Sermanni has done his best to keep the squad motivated through a series of friendlies that have only helped FA cash in on the popularity of the Matildas or in the case of a 4-0 defeat to Japan earlier this year, highlighted why next year’s Asian Cup will not be a walk in the park.
Former Arsenal and Juventus manager Montemurro now has just a handful of international windows to put his stamp on the team.
In his final game, Sermanni was keen to build momentum while he has also tested more young players to add to Australia’s depth ahead of the Asian Cup.
‘Since coming into the job it’s just really been important to try and keep everything stable, everything ticking along so that hopefully the new coach comes in and can then really start to take the program forward in the direction that he or she wants to take it in,’ Sermanni said.
‘For me it would just be business as normal, and I think we’re in the situation with a squad where a lot of players are looking forward towards the Asian Cup, and there’s a lot of competition for places in that final 23-player squad.’
Sermanni used his final pre-match press conference to go in to bat for Canberra United, whose A-League Women future remains constantly under threat.
On Sunday, he said of the sold-out Matildas game at GIO : ‘It’s a great indication that we need to keep Canberra United in the A-League Women’s competition.
