Tameka Yallop hurt her left knee in the second-half of Australia’s 1-0 win over France and was forced from the field shortly after. Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson gave an update on the midfielder’s fitness in the post-match press conference.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson is hopeful midfielder Tameka Yallop has only sustained a “knock” after she was forced from the field with a knee injury in the second-half of Australia’s 1-0 win over France.
Yallop was brought onto the field just after the hour mark for Caitlin Foord, but hyper-extended her knee as she challenged for the ball. The midfielder tried to play on through the injury, but was withdrawn less than 10 minutes later for Aivi Luik.
She had previously sustained an ankle injury against England in March, but made a full recovery just in time to be selected in the Matildas’ 23-person squad for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Now, she potentially faces another nervous wait to determine the severity of her injury, with the Matildas only six days out from their opening group stage clash against Ireland in Sydney.
Gustavsson allayed fears of a serious injury post-game, saying that he felt she could have played on if it was “a World Cup game” and remained hopeful that it was nothing more than a knock.
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“I haven’t had time to talk to her except for when she stepped off,” Gustavsson said post-game.
“When she was on the park, she just wanted to push through and I said: ‘bigger picture’… and she said: ‘ok, take me off then’ because she wanted to stay [on] and so it was me reminding her of what this is about and it’s the bigger picture.
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“So if this was a World Cup game, I think she would have kept playing hopefully by taking her off we saved some recovery… and rehab time.
“I hope it’s just a knock, so to speak and nothing that is torn or tweaked but I can’t comment on that yet.”
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Teams have up until 24 hours before the first game to make any changes to their final squad, should a player come down with injury. Kyah Simon was named on the bench but didn’t feature as she continues her recovery from a torn ACL.
Alanna Kennedy also made her return to the Matildas fold on Friday evening, playing 79 minutes alongside Clare Hunt, before she was also withdrawn with what looked to be a cramp.
“We hope she’s ok,” Gustavsson said.
“She had a little bit of a niggle but hope it’s just a niggle.”
Sam Kerr was spotted by the television cameras with strapping on her left hamstring after being withdrawn just after the hour mark – but gestured to the fans to relax when she came up on the big screen.
Gustavsson revealed Kerr was one of the players he hoped to manage against Les Bleus with the tournament getting underway in less than a week in mind.
“She is one of those that we really wanted to manage minutes on as well,” he said.
“We have trained hard to be prepared physically because the players that came from England, for example, haven’t played a game for a long time.
“So we trained them hard… We played a behind closed doors game a week ago, we played 90 minutes for the ones that needed 90 minutes and then we knew they would play maybe 60 today to make sure they had the preservation plan to fly against Ireland.
“We knew that was risky with tonight’s game to do that but we trust the depth in the roster to do it.
“Sam was a pre planned sub. We talked to her at half-time if she was ready to pull out, but she said another 10-15 would be good for her physically for the Ireland game.”
Gustavsson remained coy when asked if it was an injury she was just managing: “I will leave that to the medical team.”
Meanwhile, French winger Selma Bacha was stretchered from the field in second-half stoppage time. Bacha was electric all evening, particularly in the first-half in an enthralling battle against club teammate Ellie Carpenter.
France coach Herve Renard said they will need to wait for scans to determine the severity of her injury.
“I can’t tell you anything more because now it’s swelling and we have to wait for the exams and just to be patient and be optimistic,” he said.
