When former Matildas coach Tom Sermanni first asked a 15-year-old Caitlin Foord to start training with the senior team, he said she was so small he wasnโt sure sheโd stick around.
โShe looked like sheโd blow away in a small wind,โ he recalls.
It was the end of 2010 and Sermanni was preparing his team for the womenโs World Cup in Germany the following year. Foordโs club coach at Sydney FC, Alen Stajcic, told Sermanni to invite Foord to camp.
โSix months before the World Cup she wasnโt even in my thought process for making the [squad],โ Sermanni said.
When an opportunity opened up to play a friendly against New Zealand in Gosford, Sermanni picked an inexperienced starting XI to test ahead of the tournament. He named Foord at right-back, a far-cry from her current role as a left-winger.
โAfter about 10 minutes she got the ball and just decided to beat three players and score a goal,โ Sermanni said. โI remember sitting on the bench next to [former Matildas assistant coach Spencer Prior] and we just looked at each other and thatโs when we knew sheโs coming to Germany.โ
It would be the first of 40 international goals in 149 appearances. On Tuesday night against Mexico in Sydney, Foord will play her 150th, becoming the sixth Australian to do so. She joins Emily Van Egmond and Alanna Kennedy as the only current squad members to reach the milestone.
โI remember at the time, I think it was Heather Garriock was playing 100 [matches]โฆ I remember thinking, โwow, that would be so cool to be able to do thatโ, Foord said on Monday. โAnd she got presented with her little plaque at that game. I remember having that moment and thinking like โthatโs what I want to doโ. So to be sitting here now, so far on, itโs special to think that I have gone on and done that as well.โ
โI think the first time you put on a Matildas jersey, you donโt really know how many times youโre going to get that opportunity. To put it on 150 times tomorrow, itโs a massive honour.โ
Foord went on to play every minute of the 2011 World Cup, even coming up against the great Marta in the Matildas first match against Brazil.
โI was having a chat with her about Marta and she basically didnโt know who Marta was,โ Sermanni said. โShe just shrugged her shoulders as if I was saying youโre playing against Mary Smith from Wollongong. That was just Caitlin, that was her introduction. And sheโs just gone on to bigger and better and greater things.โ
She left Germany in 2011 as young player of the tournament and played in a further three World Cups, three Olympics and three Asian Cups. And with her club Arsenal, Foord has won the Champions League.
But, like her teammates, especially the era of players who started about the same time as her, Foord has no plans to retire until sheโs won some silverware with Australia.
โI know weโve done a lot of special stuff, but for us, itโs to win something, and weโve come close a few times now. So that goal is still there and to achieve that with this group of girls would be special,โ she said.
After losing the first match against Mexico 1-0 in Newcastle on Saturday, the Matildas may need to rely on Foord being able to recreate the 10th minute goal from her first cap.
โItโs always special to score in the green and gold, but Iโve always said I donโt care who scores as long as we get it in the back of the net and win and that will be the same for tomorrow as well.โ
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