Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Just before Australia fell deeply in love with the Matildas, Amy Sayer was on tenterhooks.
She missed out on a spot in Tony Gustavsson’s squad for the home Women’s World Cup three years ago, but was told to hang around just in case there was an injury to someone else – or a change of heart about the selection of Kyah Simon, who was picked despite not having fully recovered from an ACL injury.
Sayer probably would have been the one to replace her, or anyone else who suffered a last-minute mishap. But there were none. Gustavsson continued to back Simon – not a good decision, with the benefit of hindsight – and the deadline to make any squad changes then passed, with Sayer on the outer.
“I think it was 8pm, the day before they played Ireland for the opening game,” she said. “I had to text our [team] manager and say: ‘OK, so I haven’t got a call yet. Can you send me back to Stanford?’”
That’s Stanford University, one of the top academic colleges in the United States, where Sayer was studying human biology and philosophy – an opportunity she had earned with an ATAR of 99.25 when she sat her HSC in Sydney in 2019. Sayer operates at a higher level, on and off the field; even as she was fighting for World Cup selection, she was studying remotely, taking on extra classes in camp so she could graduate faster and play professionally sooner.
Amy Sayer (centre) is making the most of her Matildas opportunity.Credit: Getty Images
So, as Australia contracted “Matildas Fever”, Sayer was watching along on a laptop in the early hours of the morning in California, having narrowly missed out on being able to feel it all for herself.
“It was bittersweet,” she said. “But duty calls.”
This is why Sayer – now 24, a graduate and a full-time professional with top Swedish club Malmo FF – had targeted this home Asian Cup. She’s even, technically, one of the faces of the whole shebang; she is the star of an advertisement for Allianz, which, if you’ve been tuning in on Paramount, is omnipresent, giving her a little taste of what it was like to be here in 2023.
For Sayer, this experience is making up for what she missed.
“To me, it’s equivalent at this point to a World Cup or an Olympics,” she said.
Amy Sayer’s academic qualifications are as impressive as her on-field skills.Credit: Getty Images
Sayer made her international debut in the same window as a 15-year-old Mary Fowler in 2018, but has less than a third the number of caps – a consequence of her academic choices, which took her down a different road in football, and injuries.
An ACL tear in 2024 robbed her of another chance to finally appear at a major tournament for Australia, the Olympic Games in Paris, but having taken on the rehab process with the same bookish approach as she did her studies, she emerged a better version of herself, ready to make up for lost time.
“I really do think that I’m definitely an elevated player in all the different areas,” she said.
“Physically, mentally, my strength, speed, all of that, I think, have improved. So you’ve got the objective measures. But I do think, like maybe I have a bit more confidence, or definitely a lot more perspective.
“When you go through the difficulties of an ACL … honestly, you don’t get it until you’ve gone through it yourself. I do think that that has really shaped me, the perseverance and the dedication that you have to show in order to get through it.”
Every time she’s been on the field during the Asian Cup, Sayer has looked capable of doing something special. But she’s only started once, in the 4-0 win over Iran in which she scored the opening goal, which feels like not enough considering her impact and how important she is likely to be to the future of this team.
Should coach Joe Montemurro want a little bit more dynamism in attacking midfield or the front three in Australia’s semi-final against reigning champions China on Tuesday, Sayer would appear to be his best bet – especially since they are likely to sit back in numbers and force the Matildas to break them down, a challenge they tend to struggle with.
“We know with the Asian teams, they sit in a low block, but with Joe, we’re able to move the ball around the field – everyone on the team can do that,” Sayer said.
“Everyone is putting their best foot forward. Whether I’m starting or on the bench, I’m still giving my 110 per cent in every training and in all the warm-ups and everything to make sure that we come away with the trophy.”
