With the W-League season proper done and dusted for a finals bound Melbourne Victory outfit, a trip to Japan for the Women’s Club Championship awaits as they intermit from local action.
With their first game scheduled for Sunday against Japanese premiers Okayama Yunogo Belle, and a flight to look forward to tomorrow, the intercontinental journey is now a reality for the reigning W-League champions and head coach Joe Montemurro has stated his side have what it takes to mix it with the worlds best.
“The W-League is of a very high standard and this year is of no exception,” Montemurro declared.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve had teams battling it out for finals spots so it’s safe to say this year has been great season in regards to the competition.
“Obviously there is the dollars and money that is thrown at a lot of the top European and American leagues but in terms of standard and quality of play we’d have to be up there with a lot of them.”
Should they get past the stern test against the side from the host nation, a trip against Women’s Premier League outfit Arsenal FC awaits, and for captain Steph Catley, she’s hoping they can do the club – and the nation – proud by taking it to the bigger sides.
“For the club it’s massive,” Catley said.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to go to the Club Championships. We’ve got a really strong team, some great internationals and we’re all clicking at the right time.
“To do really well in this tournament will be great for the club and for women’s football.
“We were also pretty excited to see Arsenal come into the tournament and we want too get as far as possible. They will be a great challenge, just as much as the first game, so hopefully we can get through it.”
The marauding left-back has hinted that the tournament will give her teammates the exposure they deserve on a global scale, especially in the wake of funding cuts to the ABC which has seen W-League coverage scrapped for next season.
“It means a lot. We don’t get that much coverage with women’s football and to do really well in this tournament would really give it some exposure,” she said.
“I think we’ve got the players to do it and we are really excited to head over.
“I have so much confidence in the players that we have – looking at the teams that we are playing we are gong to do a bit of an analysis on our first game.
“I think we can definitely take the whole thing out and hopefully we can go game by game and go from there.”
Her coach has echoed those sentiments, as Pepe revealed some of the research that has gone on to ensure they make the best account of themselves as possible.
“Each game has its own little approach and as long as things go well, we click at the right time and all the little particulars are done, we are very confident we can go all the way,” Montemurro said.
“I’ve done a little bit of recognisance on the squad. They have the Japanese captain [Aya Miyama]. She’s a classic number ten midfielder that is great with free-kicks.
“They have another two Japanese internationals that again are very technical and very well structured, but there are some areas we think we can exploit.”
Photo: Anita Milas/Melbourne Victory W-League