Joe Montemurro Unveiled as Matildas Coach

Joe Montemurro will coach the Matildas until at least the 2028 LA Olympics. Picture: Dean Lewins.

New Matildas coach Joe Montemurro is confident he has enough time to turn Australia into a team capable of winning next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup and is optimistic that injured stars Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler can play prominent roles.

After a drawn-out process, Football Australia finally confirmed Montemurro’s appointment, leaving him nine months to find a way to turn the Matildas from a team that fails to live up its surrounding hype into an outfit capable of winning a major tournament.

The 54-year-old Melbourne-born mentor – whose previous jobs included title-winning stints as coach of the women’s teams of Arsenal, Juventus and most recently Lyon – replaces interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni, who coached his final game in 4-1 win against Argentina.

Montemurro said being appointed Matildas coach – at least until the 2028 Olympics – was the “honour of a lifetime”, but leaving French outfit Lyon, one of the world’s most prominent clubs in women’s football, after just one season was “difficult”.

The Matildas victory against Argentina was witnessed by 25,125 fans at Canberra's GIO Stadium, setting a new record for the highest attendance at a women's sporting event in the ACT.