The Matildas run to the Olympic semi-finals was more than just a team success.
Australian players, already in demand prior to Tokyo, enhanced their reputations or restored them.
Aussies are sought after by some of the biggest clubs in Women’s football and in the off-season, some key players found new homes.
Kick360 takes a look at what some of our best players will bring to their teams.
Hayley Raso: Manchester City
The fearless speedster had a terrific Olympics and following her return to England, she secured a move from Everton to FAWSL runner-up and Champions League aspirants Manchester City.
W-League fans will be well aware of what the City Football Group can do for the women’s game once they flex their considerable financial muscle.
Raso’s first season in England resulted in some of the best club football of her career and she was a popular figure at Everton. However, she was at times used out of her best position.
Although she can play right back where she was sometimes deployed and is never one to shirk her defensive responsibilities, further up the park is where she does her best work.
Manchester City has Lucy Bronze in the right-back role and it is unlikely that Raso was bought to play that position.
She will join a fearsome attack featuring, Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, and spearheaded by Ellen White (who scored a hatrick against Australia for Team GB).
Surrounded by these talents and in a side that expects to dominate opponents, she will be able to impact games using her dribbling skills and increasingly impressive passing ability.
Chelsea demonstrated last season that to win the league you need depth in midfield and attack. Raso is a frightening option for the manager to have.
A starting position will not be guaranteed but she will be used in midfield or attack and will be challenged, she will improve and this will benefit Australia, Manchester City, and the player.
Alanna Kennedy: Manchester City
Kennedy adopted almost instantly to the English top tier. Her form for Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield was rewarded with the captaincy on one occasion and she was a fixture in the lineup.
Like Raso, the move to Manchester City is a challenge, but it is one that she will be prepared to meet.
Kennedy brings versatility and depth to City. She will likely be used a defender as the team is well stocked with quality midfielders and this is where she does her best work.
She can play the ball out from the back and carry it out to release pressure. She enjoys a long pass from deep and as Team GB found out, she can be deadly from set-pieces.
At Manchester City, Kennedy will play in a team expecting to win every game. She will go head to head with some of the best attackers in the world and come up against others in training.
One of the world’s biggest clubs chased and signed one of Australia’s most important players, they know she will help them win matches.
Tameka Yallop: West Ham
Yallop signed for West Ham before the Olympics in one of the earliest moves by an Australian in the off-season.
Although she was used in a variety of roles in the Green and Gold, it is safe to assume that she has been recruited on the strength of her W-League form.
For Brisbane Roar, she was used either in her favoured attacking midfield role or playing off the striker. At West Ham, she could be used in a similar fashion.
The Hammers were involved in a relegation battle for much of last season, their safety was secured in the final weeks of the league.
The star signing will likely step in the void left by Emily van Egmond at the club.
She brings a combative edge to midfield and an eye for goal to the attack. She has a great first touch and can be used out wide as well as through the middle.
Yallop can cross, pass, shoot or tackle and is an almost complete modern midfielder.
What she will bring to West Ham is a touch of class, a huge engine and hopefully some goals.
This was business done early and quickly by the London club, they snapped her up before the world could see her at the Olympics.
Kyah Simon: Tottenham
Following some of her best football at Melbourne City and some decisive football in Olympic qualifying, Kyah Simon signed with PSV Eindhoven in The Netherlands for the 2020/21 season.
Despite earning plaudits and scoring early in her European career she was halted by injuries and then twice contracted COVID-19.
In pre-Olympics friendlies the rust was evident. Simon, known for her technique and poise was guilty of scuffed shots and hesitant passes.
When it mattered most, she hit form and gave Tottenham fans some idea of what to expect.
Spurs struggle to score in the FAWSL and they are unlikely to control possession against many sides in the competition.
What Simon brings is the ability to create something from nothing.
A cross from either flank, a long-range shot, a deft finish, or a headed goal, the Matilda striker is inventive and dangerous.
With Kyah Simon in the team, Tottenham does not need to control the game to get a result. If she is fit she will score goals and for Australia, a fit and confident Simon is a huge asset.
Ella Mastrantonio: Lazio
Women’s football in Italy is building into something special. The standard of the competition is improving, the national team is becoming more formidable and in 2022 the league is expected to become fully professional.
After a season battling relegation with Bristol City in England, classy midfielder Mastrantonio moved to Lazio.
Although she is a fringe Matilda, national team manager Tony Gustavsson has shown that he will select players based on form. With future fixtures surely to be in Europe, Mastrantonio is well-positioned to add to her caps.
Lazio is getting a true central midfielder near her peak of experience and ability. The former Western Sydney Wanderer is the type of player that will be right at home in Italian football.
She is a composed passer of the ball, blessed with a magnetic first touch. Despite Lazio’s shaky start to the season, Mastrantonio could have a renaissance in Rome.
Emily Gielnik: Aston Villa
The W-Leagues leading scorer made a deadline day move to Aston Villa and will be hopeful of continuing her goalscoring form.
Gielnik is coming off four goals in 14 appearances for Vittsjo in Sweden following from her 13 goals for Brisbane last season.
Although her appearances during the Olympics were off the bench for Australia she provided one of the best goals of the tournament. A rocket hit from long range while running at full pace against the U.S.A.
At her best, Gielnik is a goal machine, lethal through the center and capable on either wing. Her speed and power make her a difficult opponent for any defender and she can score from almost anywhere.
Teagan Micah- Rosengard
Teagan Micah : Football’s unlikely Olympic Hero
After a superb Olympics campaign in which she became Australia’s first-choice goalkeeper, Micah joined Sweden’s top club, Rosengard.
This is a logical next step for the shot-stopper. Micah will be at a club that is used to winning and demands results.
Like the Aussies in Manchester, her starting position is far from guaranteed. Rosengard also boasts Canadian Stephanie Labbe as an option in goal and Micah will be under pressure to perform when she gets her chances.
What the Swedish champions will get is a keeper quickly reaching her potential. Micah’s Olympic form was superb, she is comfortable in the air, composed, and has lightning reflexes.
This is another step forward for Micah and another impressive transfer by an Australian.
