Coach Ante Milicic will remain in charge of the Matildas for Australia’s Olympic campaign after Football Federation Australia moved to extend his contract before the World Cup begins in France.
Milicic, who took over at the helm of the women’s national side in February following the sacking of Alen Stajcic, will oversee the Matildas’ efforts to qualify for Tokyo 2020 early next year, and if successful will go for gold at the tournament in Japan.
The new one-year deal, which comes after he started his tenure with three victories at the Tournament of Nations and a defeat to the world No 1 USA, puts to bed any talk of him taking over at an A-League club after the World Cup.
FFA chief executive David Gallop said Milicic’s performance since taking the reins and his reception from players and staff within the national set-up were behind the decision to lock him down.
“Ante has been working in our national teams space since 2014 and we were confident when we appointed him to the Matildas post that he would do a great job,” Gallop said.
“However, the feedback that we have received from those closest to the team over the past three months has been resoundingly positive and helped guide our decision to extend his appointment.”
One of the his assistants, Ivan Jolic, has also signed a one-year extension and will be alongside Milicic when the Matildas touch down in France to kick off their campaign against Italy on 9 June. Games against Brazil and Jamaica also await in Group C.
Milicic will return to Australia next week to announce a 23-strong squad before departing on 19 May for Turkey, where they will fine tune their World Cup preparations at an elite training facility.
Australia will then gear up for their opener with a friendly against the Netherlands in Eindhoven on 1 June.
“The continuity this will foster can only benefit the belief and preparation leading into the Women’s World Cup campaign in France, but more importantly I think it demonstrates the deep belief that I have in this special group of players,” Milicic said.
“I know that I can help them achieve something special for themselves not only individually, but for this team and for Australian football.”
