Adelaide United’s Matilda McNamara and Craig Goodwin spoke to the media at Coopers Stadium on Thursday ahead of their respective Pride Matches.
The women’s team kick things off with a massive clash against Melbourne Victory before the men’s side tackle Central Coast Mariners in another important fixture.
McNamara on looking forward to the occasion…
We’re super excited for Saturday not only because it’s the Pride Game but also for our season because it’s such a big match. And all the girls are up for it at training this week, so we’re super, super excited for it.
McNamara on trying to not think too far ahead…
I think realistically for the past three, four matches, it’s really been we’ve got to win all these matches. We can’t really drop any more points. So every match we’ve gone into like it’s a grand final for us which is really exciting to play in. And I think this match will be no different. I think all the girls are really up for it and we know what’s on the line, but we also know if we play our best we’re going to beat any other team.
McNamara on her development over the last few seasons…
I think over the past couple of years I’ve definitely improved so much with my game and I’m glad that people have noticed it. But I still know I have so much more to give and to go and I’m really just trying to focus on that and hope that the things fall into place outside of my control as well.
Goodwin on the Pride Game and need for three points…
For me that’s the big thing coming into this game. We know the occasion that it is. It’s a fantastic occasion for the Club, to be able to support not only Josh, but everyone within the Club, and the Pride Game is something I think that’s a really important thing for football going forward to be more inclusive. But at the end of the day it’s still a game and it’s a massive one for our season and we need the three points.
Goodwin on identifying issues against Macarthur…
We were disappointed overall with the performance against Macarthur. We did start well, but we’ve done the video session and we’ve seen where we’ve went wrong and we know what we have to do to rectify it. Part of that is just effort and the other part is sticking to our structures and tactics and then expressing ourselves from there.
Goodwin on embracing more responsibility…
I think I’ll stick to my role within the team that I always have. I do feel like I’m an influential player, but I’m now one of the more experienced players in the team. But the good thing is we have a few experienced boys with (Michael) Jakobsen, Isa (Isaías), Juande and Javi (López) – we’ve got a good group from a leader perspective. So for us it’s about trying to help the younger players within the team but I would say that I would stick to what I’m doing.
