When Australia fell in love with the Matildas, she’d left the country. Now Amy Sayer is making up for lost time

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.

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.

Loading

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.”