“Polks goes down. You lose Laura Brock. [Kellond-Knight], who you want as your six, goes back. Steph comes inside. Emily goes back. A little bit of a domino effect.”
There were a number of reasons behind the Matildas’ disappointing World Cup campaign last July but arguably the most consequential was what happened when veteran centre-back Clare Polkinghorne pulled up with a hamstring strain after Australia’s opening game against Italy.
Following the loss of Laura Brock (née Alleway) on the eve of the tournament, the injury to Polkinghorne had, as Ante Milicic said, a domino effect on the rest of the squad. Vice-captain Steph Catley, widely regarded as one of the best attacking left-backs in the world, was shifted into central defence. Elise Kellond-Knight, Australia’s best defensive midfielder, took Catley’s original place at full-back while Emily van Egmond, Australia’s most creative midfielder, was played in a much deeper No 6 role.
The Matildas would go on to win their remaining group games against Brazil and Jamaica, but the task appeared much harder than it perhaps would have been had Polkinghorne’s hamstring not been quite so feeble. While both Catley and Kellond-Knight deputised admirably in their unfamiliar roles, Van Egmond looked particularly uncomfortable with the defensive reins tightened around her.
Arguably the Matildas’ most technically gifted attacking midfielder, Van Egmond has always been suited to a classic No 10 role, free to roam across the pitch and deliver incisive passes behind and in between opposition lines – a particularly useful gift when playing with strikers like Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso who run off the shoulders of their defenders. But Van Egmond’s World Cup role forced her into alien habits of backwards and sideways passing, and of paying more attention to breaking up the attacks of her opponents rather than starting attacks for her teammates.
This is what has made Van Egmond’s recent performances for the Matildas in their Olympic qualifiers so noticeable. In 140 minutes of game-time so far, she has notched three goals and four assists: the most combined goal involvements of any player so far in this qualifying group. Against Thailand alone, Van Egmond delivered 15 crosses and created eight chances, the most of any other player on the field. Of Australia’s 13 goals in their last two games against Taiwan and Thailand respectively, she has directly contributed to seven of them.
“She’s a [No] 10 and we’re trying everything we can to keep her there,” Milicic said after Australia’s 6-0 defeat of Thailand on Monday. “She’s got goals in her game, she’s got assists, she’s intelligent, she’s very brave with her passing but also with her positioning and she understands the situation. She’s a footballer. She’s been patient since I’ve been in charge and I think she feels more comfortable as a 10. Hopefully we can keep progressing with that.”
One need only watch Van Egmond’s assists over the past two games to imagine how much more she could have contributed to Australia’s World Cup campaign. Half an hour into their match against Taiwan on Friday, Van Egmond delivered a chipped reverse pass with the outside of her foot that took out four defenders and fell perfectly into the path of Catley, who scored Australia’s third. Seven minutes later, Van Egmond broke Taiwan’s offside trap and set up Foord’s hat-trick with a sumptuous cushioned first-time volley.
It was Van Egmond’s technical wizardry that opened the floodgates for Australia against Thailand on Monday, too. While struggling to break down Thailand’s packed defence, the midfielder found space in the box to volley home a deep cross from Ellie Carpenter, again with the outside of her foot. Two more goals were complemented by a fizzed-in free kick that found the head of Kyah Simon to make it 6-0 with 20 minutes to spare. Given Van Egmond’s last competitive action against Thailand prior to Monday’s win was a missed penalty at the 2018 Asian Cup, which threatened to knock Australia out of World Cup qualification, there is some poetic justice to the fact that her first international hat-trick helped knock Thailand out of the Olympic equivalent.
Not that she is one to admit her pivotal role in the team’s current run. “I’m just happy to support the team in whatever role I’m put in,” she said post-match. “The most important thing for me is that we’re winning […] It’s obviously fun and it’s really enjoyable to play as an attacking midfielder but wherever I’m put, I will do the job. This team is full of a lot of versatile players and a lot of quality and I think we’re super lucky in that regard in that we have a lot of depth.”
An important game awaits the Matildas against China on Thursday, but these two wins have felt like more than simple, routine wins against weaker sides. For Van Egmond, these qualifiers have been somewhat of an exorcism; a driving out of old habits and mindsets, and a leaning back into the player she has always been. If she can continue her current form, the Matildas may have their best chance to exorcise their own World Cup demons and win the titles they have always believed they can.
