Women’s Asian Cup: ex-Australia coach ‘enjoying journey with China’ ahead of semi-final

Former Australia coach Ante Milicic will put sentiment aside as he ⁠guides defending champions China against ⁠the Matildas in their Asian Cup ⁠semi-final on Tuesday.

Milicic coached the tournament hosts in 2019-20 and took them to the last 16 of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France before cutting short his contract to return to club football in the men’s A-League.

The 51-year-old joined China in 2024 after they failed ‌to qualify for the Paris Olympics, and he has already made his mark at the Asian Cup by helping the team qualify for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Many of Milicic’s 2019 World Cup squad remain in the current Matildas set-up, including captain Sam Kerr, forward Mary Fowler and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.

So it will not be for a lack of data if China are unable to beat the 2023 World ⁠Cup semi-finalists at Perth Stadium.

Milicic said on Monday he would always follow the fortunes of the Australian players he ‌coached but would not let his personal feelings get in the way of the job at hand.

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