Scottish-born Tom Sermanni appointed interim coach of Australian women’s football team

Scottish-born Tom Sermanni has been appointed interim head coach of the Australian women’s national football team, his third in charge of the Matildas.

Soccer Australia did not renew the contract of former head coach Tony Gustavsson after the Matildas failed to advance past the group stage in Paris. Olympics Sermanni’s appointment was announced on Tuesday, as the federation searches for a new head coach.

Australia finished third in their group behind the United States and Germany, and failed to reach the knockout stage of an Olympic tournament for the first time since Sydney 2000.

Sermanni, 70, will lead the team for next month’s international matches, including against Olympic bronze medallists Germany, and possibly until the end of the year.

Sermanni was the head coach of the U.S. women’s team in 2013-14, an assistant with the Canadian women’s team in 2015 and led the New Zealand women’s team from 2018 until the end of the Tokyo Olympics. Olympics ,

“With more than three decades of soccer experience in Australia and internationally, her extensive knowledge of the global women’s soccer landscape, the local Australian game and her past success with the team make her the ideal candidate to guide the Matildas through this transitional period,” Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said in a statement.