Caitlin Foord's spell of form concurrent with sensational Matildas run

The current Arsenal striker has been wrapped in cotton wool at times by Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson in the last 12 months - most notably when she came off at half-time in their 2-1 friendly loss to Canada in Sydney last year and more recently when she did not come off the bench in their first round victory against Czechia last week.

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But after replacing former Illawarra Stingrays forward Mary Fowler in the Matildas lineup for their impressive 3-2 win against Spain in Parramatta on Sunday, it is clear to see why Gustavsson has placed such importance on the former Sydney FC forward.

After scoring in the victory against Spain, Foord has now nabbed six goals in her last six national team appearances - a stellar run considering she had scored two goals in her previous 24 caps with the Matildas. She has also played a crucial role at her domestic club Arsenal in helping them reach the FA WSL final against Sam Kerr's Chelsea next month.

After questions were asked of Gustavsson and the Matildas in the lead-in to the World Cup - most notably following their seven-nil thumping at the hands of the Spanish last year - the side have now gone six games unbeaten and can wrap up Cup Of Nations silverware with a victory against the currently winless Jamaica on Wednesday evening.

It's the near perfect run-in for the Women's World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in July and August, with the Matildas set to face Ireland, Nigeria and Canada in the group stages.

Speaking to the media following the victory against Spain, Gustavsson said he liked what he saw from both Foord and Kerr up front in a relatively new formation for the side.

"Going back to the Sweden game [in November], we played a four-two-three-one formation with Caitlin at a 10 and Sam as the nine," he said.

"They tore us apart, even though we had a plan for 30 minutes they just ran right through us. During the game we switched to a four-four-two without actually training for it and we had the conversation should we play Caitlin and Sam next to each other [up front] or should we play a 10 and nine?

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"As a coach it is all about getting the right players in the right spot with the right mindset. And if I over coach those two players in that moment I don't think we would see what we saw tonight [against Spain]. So what we saw tonight was not actually my coaching, it is just Caitlin and Sam playing in the right spot with the right mindset."

Kick-off for the Matildas' Wednesday night clash against Jamaica in Newcastle is 7:10pm. Australia sit top of the group with six points, whilst Spain and Czechia are in second and third spot respectively with three points. Jamaica is yet to register a point in fourth.

In other Football Australia news, it was announced on Tuesday that both the men's and women's national teams would face global powerhouses England in respective fixtures this year.

The Matildas will face the the Lionesses at Brentford on April 11 as part of their World Cup run-in whilst Graham Arnold's Socceroos will take on Gareth Southgate's Three Lions side at Wembley October 13.

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