Veteran Australian goalkeeper Lydia Williams says a recent lack of club football will be no obstacle to her performing if called upon at the World Cup.
The longest-serving member of the Matildas is adamant she can deliver her best once again on the world stage but will have a battle on her hands to force her way into the side, as Mackenzie Arnold looms as coach Tony Gustavsson’s first choice at the tournament.
Playing at her fifth World Cup, Williams acknowledged she was in the twilight phase of her career, which made the home tournament “a little bit more special” than previous editions.
She said the three Matildas goalkeepers were working well together inside camp, but there was an underlying competitiveness to push ahead in the pecking order before the tournament opener against Ireland on July 20.
Williams’ former Canberra United understudy Arnold has started in the five previous matches for the Matildas, while Teagan Micah held the No.1 spot earlier in the cycle and has returned to the squad after missing months with concussion symptoms.
“Women’s goalkeeping in Australia is strong, and they keep producing them,” Williams said.
“We still push each other, we’re still really respectful and you clap for a really good save … but then you’re like, ‘I want to do something better’, so there’s always that competitiveness.”
The 35-year-old has been deprived of opportunities at Arsenal and then PSG before the pandemic, but a move back to the WSL with Brighton in January to get more game time yielded seven first-team appearances.
Williams said the difficult period taught her how to stay ready to play when stuck on the bench and would hold her in good stead if called upon at the World Cup.
“One of the things I picked up over the last couple of years, especially the move to Arsenal where there wasn’t much game time either, is that you have to make every training session like it is a game,” she said.
“You practise that mentality – I know what it is to play at a high level, I don’t necessarily get it all the time, but if I have the same mindset that a training session is a game, an international, it does give you that practice and the fuel to be ready to go when you’re needed.”
Williams said the recognition her decorated career was beginning to wind up had led to a shift in motivation at this tournament.
“I’m very aware of twilight years and that kind of thing … I just want to leave the sport in the best shape possible, with players wanting to be goalkeepers and wanting to represent Australia and young Indigenous kids wanting to kick a round ball instead of a different ball,” she said.
“I think it’s a little bit more special (than past World Cups) in that kind of sense to me.”
