In February 2023, Clare Hunt played her first ever match for the Matildas. 170 days later and she’s played every minute in the group stage for Australia at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The defender has been playing with an 89% passing accuracy, the equal highest alongside Alanna Kennedy for Australia.
After producing a near-perfect 4-0 performance in their latest match against Canada, Hunt and the Matildas have finished top of their group and advance to the round of 16.
After the match, sporting an absolute shiner of a bruise after a head clash, Hunt couldn’t hide her excitement from the performance and channelled what every Aussie was no doubt feeling by drawing out a huge “let’s go” to begin her interview.
When critically reflecting on the match, Hunt identified the determination from the whole squad as a key factor for producing such a clinical result.
“Canada were a very direct team, they had a lot of long balls. It’s huge to not concede, and there were times they were they got shots on target, so I think it was big effort from everyone,” she said.
Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson said that he has been impressed with Hunt’s performances across the tournament despite her inexperience with the squad.
“Did she take one step wrong tonight at all? So, the maturity of her performance tonight is one of the things that were really, really impressed with,” he said.
Gustavsson will be hoping the solid performances continue as Australia’s opponents become bigger as they head towards the final.
Despite only having nine international caps to her name, three of which came during World Cup play, Hunt isn’t worried about facing up to ranked opponents and says the small amount of time she’s had with the Matildas has been enough.
“I’ve had some exposure to top-quality teams in England, Spain, and France in the lead-up to the World Cup and I think that has prepared me well for the level of competition that we are coming up against in this tournament,” she said.
“For me, there’s not a large of difference between international friendlies and the World Cup other than the occasion itself. I’m just focusing on the games at hand, and regardless of the opposition, doing my job to allow the team to succeed.”
With a knockout result in every match going forward, the Matildas are aiming to embrace the scrutiny just as they did against Canada.
“We love pressure. We thrive under pressure, and with the week that we’ve had in terms of just building towards that and coming off the negative result for us against Nigeria, I think it was a big turnaround, we show that we have character we have resilience.
“Topping the group is a great feeling, and something that will bring confidence to the group, but it will not change our approach for the next game,” Hunt said.
Feature Image Credit: Anthony Caffery Photography
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