Beneath every team at the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup in India is a trapdoor. The Omicron variant is sweeping through the host nation with more than 300,000 cases reported daily. Already,
it’s claimed the participation of the locals after an outbreak within the Indian camp prevented the hosts from fielding the minimum teamDespite having tight bio-security measures in their hotel and training base in Mumbai, the Matildas aren’t immune from a potential outbreak within their camp.
“It’s a pandemic and we are ensuring we do all that we can but the sole focus for us is football,” Matildas midfielder Emily van Egmond said. “We are here to perform, here to do a job and for us to continue putting our best foot forward on the park. We’re trying not to focus on the outside noise and only what we can control.”4-0 win over a Philippines side coached by Alen Stajcic on Monday
night means they only need a draw against Thailand on Friday morning to claim top spot in their group. Australia are outright favourites to take all three points from that game and could even qualify for the knock-out stages with an unlikely defeat, however van Egmond hinted there may not be widespread changes to a side to allow senior players a rest before the quarter-finals.
“We have a plan, we want to win against Thailand and have a good statement going into the quarter-final games,” van Egmond said. “I think the most important thing is we have 23 players who are healthy and available.”Meanwhile, Macarthur FC will have gone more than a month without playing an A-League game after Wednesday's match against Perth Glory was postponed on Tuesday afternoon. Perth reported several positive cases of COVID-19 among their players, coaches and staff.
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