Central Coast Mariners midfielder Isabel Gomez is letting her football do the talking as she continues to piece together a career-best season in Gosford – but on current form, is the Ninja A-League star worthy of another CommBank Matildas call-up?
The 22-year-old was selected for the first time in her career for a four-game friendly series against Brazil and Chinese Taipei in late 2024 – but a knee injury suffered in the days after her inaugural call-up left Gomez watching on from the outside as the Matildas rounded out the calendar year with the four-game series.
Gomez spent 12 weeks recovering from the injury but returned to Ninja A-League action in mid-February; she’s since made five appearances for the Mariners and has swiftly regained her scoring touch.
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Having bagged two goals in her first four appearances of the season, Gomez has added two more to her tally in the five games following her injury return – including a stellar finish in Centarl Coast’s 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in Round 20.
On this week’s episode of Dub Zone, A-Leagues commentator Teo Pellizzeri and Sydney FC legend Teresa Polias identified why the young midfielder’s transformation into a goalscorer should come as no surprise – and pondered whether she was an unfortunate omission from Matildas interim head coach Tom Sermanni’s 23-player squad revealed on Monday morning.
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“She’s just come back from a long injury, and we were saying that (for) the Mariners, she’ll have to take the time getting back,” Polias said.
“She’s back to playing almost full games and looking back at her best. They need to build their team around her for the future. They must keep her at all costs.”
“I’m going the other way,” Pellizzeri replied. “They signed her to a two-year deal, so she’s got next season under contract, but that means it’s the perfect time for the Mariners to get a transfer fee. The only thing missing is that international cap.
“I feel as though putting the Matildas halo around Izzy Gomez would make it that much easier to sell her overseas.”
Five Ninja A-League players were selected in Sermanni’s 23-player squad but there was no room for Gomez whose first international call-up did come in a bumper 36-player squad, with the larger-than-usual pool of players picked due to the November/December window falling out of alignment with the fixture schedule of European leagues.
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Despite the current squad consisting of just 23 players, both Polias and Pellizzeri identified Gomez’s omission as a snub from interim boss Sermanni.
“I think she was the most significant snub from the most recent squad,” Pellizzeri said.
“If her form was good enough to get called up to the Matildas, I know it was four games and it was a big, expanded squad for Chinese Taipei but if she was good enough, then I think she’s even better now.
“Her underlying numbers last season meant that she was the best-kept secret in this league heading into the campaign. And to anyone (who) studies the data, this form is no surprise whatsoever.”
Polias replied: “A coaching masterclass from Em Husband to push Izzy Gomez up higher at the pitch because she’s a natural goal scorer, she’s proven… (it’s) a substantial snub from the Matildas.”
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