Australia v Slovenia: international women’s football friendly - live

31s ago 13.05 BST Half-time: Australia 1-0 Slovenia After a Gielnik goal in the first few minutes of that half Slovenia picked up their game, increased the pressure and were able to hold Australia from finding the net again. Sayer and McNamara were fast and promising but lacked confidence at the final hurdle, they really need to back themselves to take those chances to score a bit more. Take a look at someone like Gielnik who knows when to go it alone and when it’s better to look for another option. Share

5m ago 13.01 BST 45 mins + 2: Chidiac steals possession to the right of the area from a Slovenian throw-in and crosses it low to McNamara who nudges it on to Van Egmond, her whose shot misses wide. At the other end Kolbl has a ping from just inside the area which goes close over the crossbar. Share Updated at 13.01 BST

10m ago 12.55 BST 44 mins: Hunt sends her free kick over the top to McNamara but she is without options and Slovenia are able to clear it. Share

12m ago 12.53 BST 42 mins: Sternad has another chance on goal for Slovenia. From a nice through pass she is able to beat Kennedy and take a shot which goes wide at the near post. Released by Kennedy, Carpenter makes a run up the right for the first time and sends it forward to Gielnik. Gielnik pauses in front of the goalkeeper but can find space to get the ball past her. She tries again with the rebound but shoots it wide. Share

15m ago 12.51 BST 40 mins: Sayer and McNamara are doing well with possession in the final third but then falling short with their final touches or passes. Conversely when they are on the receiving end they are also just not quite getting there in time, perhaps not quite reading the play well enough. Share

17m ago 12.49 BST 38 mins: McNamara picks up the ball in midfield and as Australia begin to rush forward you can hear Montemurro with his refrain from the sideline ‘keep the ball, keep the ball’, and in response Australia pause, slow down, take it back before working forward again. Share

18m ago 12.48 BST 36 mins: Micah is drawn out dangerously and has to rush back to her line while Heatley comes in to save the day. Slovenia are really thwarting them in the midfiel at times. Share

20m ago 12.46 BST 34 mins: Australia regroup from the back, passing back to Micah and then working forward through Kennedy. Australia lose possession after a throw from Rankin, take it back and then waste it by rushing forward without a plan. Something Montemurro was keen to avoid. Share

22m ago 12.43 BST 32 mins: McNamara is brought down and Van Egmond lines up for the free kick. It finds a head in the box but the Slovenian goalkeeper picks up the ball easily. Share

24m ago 12.42 BST 30 mins: Sayer takes the ball into the box and has nothing to offer in the face of three defenders. It’s in stark contrast to how someone like Foord would work that left corner, highlighting Sayer’s inexperience. Share

26m ago 12.39 BST 28 mins: Gielnik looks strong and comfortable in a way that some like Van Egmond, Carpenter do not. Sayer has another change to release McNamara but again the weighting of the pass isn’t quite right. Their pairing looks so promising though. Share

28m ago 12.38 BST 26 mins: Montemurro is shouting ‘keep the ball, keep the ball’ from the coaches area on the side. I doubt they have been doing that to the standard he was hoping for so far. Slovenia are using their set pieces well and peppering the crowded box. A couple of quick clearances and nervy ricochets and Australia are out of the woods again. Share

30m ago 12.36 BST 24 mins: Slovenian free kick taken short and Mcnamara blasts off on the counter-attack. She releases Carpenter whose touch is slightly too heavy but gets another chance and passes it off towards Gielnik, but she can’t get there before the defender. Carpenter should have kept possession then and had another go. Share

33m ago 12.33 BST 22 mins: Slovenia are applying pressure well in midfield, forcing turnovers and then catching Australia’s defenders looking a bit stuck. Nice switch from Gielnik to Sayer on the edge of the area, who takes a touch and fires off a shot which again goes high. Share

35m ago 12.30 BST 20 mins: Micah is called upon again as Slovenia show some impressive moves up front. A pass over the top finds Kramzar’s feet in the area but is cleared by Chidiac only to be sent back in straight at Micah. Share

37m ago 12.28 BST 18 mins: Beautiful run through the middle from Sayer and pass forward to McNamara who cuts it back to her again, but Sayer can’t control the touch and sends the ball sailing high over the crossbar. Maybe should have held on to it herself and gone all the way then. Share

39m ago 12.27 BST 16 mins: A cross from Kolbl ends up being a shot on target and Micah is forced into a slow-motion save. Nearly a Torpey-esque goal there. Share

41m ago 12.25 BST 14 mins: Australia turn over the ball around halfway and Kramzar breaks through, she tried to slot it through to Sternad but she can’t get there. Share

43m ago 12.23 BST 12 mins: Kramzar challenges the Australian defence but wastes her last touch. they are going to need to keep a close eye on her. Slovenia have their fourth corner. Share Updated at 12.23 BST

44m ago 12.21 BST 10 mins: The Matildas often look a bit frenzied at the start of a new international window, and the start of this friendly has been no different. Share

47m ago 12.18 BST 8 mins: Hunt clears a second corner and Slovenia regain possession in their defensive half before pushing forward with more confidence. Kennedy clears that foray over the sideline. Share

49m ago 12.17 BST 6 mins: A nicely taken Slovenian corner is punched away by Micah. A bit nervy at the back it seems. Share

50m ago 12.15 BST 4 mins: A disappointing start for Slovenia. Australia were able to build patiently to that goal with minimal pressure from their opposition. Just before the goal there was another change from a Sayer cross that was deflected off a defender just past the far post. Share

51m ago 12.14 BST Goal! Australia 1-0 Slovenia (Gielnik '3) Emily Gielnik opens the scoring in the first two minutes. A corner comes in from Van Egmond on the right and lands right in the middle of the six-yard box where it gets jammed under a couple of defenders before Gielnik is able to hack it out and into the back of the net. Not neat but still counts. Share

55m ago 12.10 BST Peeeeep! Kick-off is upon us. Let the football begin. Share

1h ago 12.09 BST HBF Park in Perth is not looking particularly full at this point, certainly in contrast to the crowd sizes the Matildas have played in front of over the last couple years. Share

1h ago 11.55 BST My colleague Joey Lynch has pointed out a bit of shared history for the two coaches tonight, at South Melbourne FC. Best of luck to both Joe Montemurro and Sasa Kolman tonight in Perth as the Matildas take on Slovenia.

Both coaches have a strong connection to our club. Joe served as Senior Assistant Coach, U20 Championship-winning Coach, and Technical Director, while Sasa played a key role in… pic.twitter.com/rMbeN0r2xI — South Melbourne FC (@smfc) June 26, 2025 Share

1h ago 11.54 BST Chidiac had a quick post-warm-up chat with Paramount, she says she didn’t really have benchmarks for herself coming back into the squad. I wanted to come in as myself as much as possible. Coming off a strong season with Victory, I want to implement that with the team and take any opportunity I can get. [Slovenia] are a brave team on an attack and counter-attack side, but we will definitely bring it to them. Share

1h ago 11.47 BST Slovenia line-up Slovenia XI: Zala Mersnik; Lana Golob, Sara Agrez, Kaja Korosec, Dominika Conc, Lara Prasnikar, Spela Kolbl, Sara Makovec, Kaja Erzen, Zara Kramzar, Maja Sternad (Pending nicely designed graphic tweet…) Share

1h ago 11.39 BST Montemurro is speaking now before the game, saying he has “demanded” a few things of his players including keeping the ball more and being more proactive with the ball, and not going forwards “needlessly” but preparing for it better. Share

Click here to read article