Australia’s Steph Catley ready for business as Arsenal Women face UWCL qualifiers
Arsenal Women have two Australian internationals within their ranks, Steph Catley & Caitlin Foord, both of whom had a phenomenal few weeks at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, on their home turf, helping their national team, the Matilda’s, reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in their history.
Steph Catley stepped up to captain the Matilda’s through most of the tournament, after Sam Kerr picked up a calf injury in training just prior to the opening game, becoming a household name in Australia in the process. Speaking to Vogue after the Women’s World Cup, Catley described one highlight of the tournament:
“The opening game was definitely one of my highlights. I just remember being on the bus on the way to the game, and just the overwhelming emotions of being proud, being excited, everything coming together. Seeing people on the way towards the stadium, all in Tillies colours, green and gold everywhere. It just felt like there was nothing else on in the world, other than our game. And then walking out to that crowd and scoring a penalty in that game. That was definitely one of my favourite moments. The other one was probably making the semifinal. Obviously, a historic moment for our team, a historic moment for Australian football. And yeah, it was just a real “we’ve sort of made it” moment.”
Catley is now heading back to North London, to join her Arsenal teammates in pre-season training. Arsenal Women are back in action, against Swedish side Linkoping, on 6th September in the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers.
“I’m heading back Saturday night, and then I’m in training Monday morning. We’ve got the Champions League qualifiers that are coming up very, very soon, so you have to switch your brain straight back into club mode. But it’s pretty easy to do that, I love playing for Arsenal, we’ve got so many amazing players, it should be a really exciting year.”
COYGW!
Michelle Maxwell
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