‘Dream come true’: Galic becomes Matilda #229 in draw against Switzerland

The Matildas drew 1-1 against Switzerland in their first match since the Paris Olympics, with Caitlin Foord’s 43rd minute penalty being cancelled out by a Geraldine Reuteler rocket in the 58th minute.

The match served as a historic occasion for 18-year-old Daniela Galic, who made her senior Matildas debut.

Galic, who was the 2023/24 A-League Women’s Young Footballer of the Year, departed Melbourne City for a move to FC Twente on a two-year contract.

Her form was rewarded with her second call-up to a Matildas camp, having been included as a train-on player for the Olympic qualifiers against Uzbekistan in February, prior to her participation in the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup, where Australia finished third.

Galic described her senior debut as a dream come true.

“Since the first time I stepped onto the pitch, I dreamed of representing my country and to be able to do it today was an unbelievable feeling,” she said.

“It’s such a surreal moment, and to do it with this group of girls who I watched during the World Cup and idolise, it just makes it even more special.

“It’s just such a huge honour. I’m so proud to represent my family, all my previous clubs that I played for, and then to now represent my country, it’s just an unreal experience and I’ll remember this night forever.”

Galic noted that the standards are very different in international football, and it did not give her a lot of time to get ready for the difference.

“I had to get stuck in pretty quickly, but it was definitely a step-up [and] I enjoyed every minute of it,” she said.

Interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni, who has handed so many Matildas their international debuts in his two previous stints with the team, added to that list with Galic, and thought she did well in her limited time on the park.

“In hindsight, I should maybe have made the subs five minutes earlier,” Sermanni said.

“[She] certainly didn’t look out of place, looked very comfortable on the ball, kept wanting the ball, worked hard, so I think for her first time into the national team, in a game that was a very tight game, I thought she equipped herself very very well.”

Sermanni used a few different formations and tactics throughout the game, and thought the 1-1 result was fair, but indicated that the Matildas should not have conceded the equaliser.

“At that stage of the game, it wasn’t that I felt we were under a great deal of pressure,” he said.

“I think we had three or four opportunities to actually clear the ball and there shouldn’t have been that danger in the first place.

“It was a little bit disappointing, particularly at a time in the game when I felt that we were looking comfortable and controlling the game.”

The Matildas will next be in action on Tuesday morning (AEDT) against Germany, with Sermanni currently unclear on what approach to the game he will take.

“We certainly need to step-up based on tonight’s performance, but tonight was the first game with the team for a while, [and] the Germany game I think will be an entirely different game,” he said.

“When you’ve got these games back-to-back, you come in with a plan but the plan tends to alter, and sometimes it can alter before the first game, but it certainly alters at the end of the first game.

“It will depend on a few things. It will depend on how our players come up after tonight, we’ll do a bit more observation of Germany, and then we’ll decide on both personnel and the system we’ll go into the game with.”