Newcastle may have been overlooked for a 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup match but lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes hopes the city can win over two-time defending champions United States when they play the Matildas at McDonald Jones Stadium on November 30.
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The fixture, announced on Thursday, is the second leg of a two-match home series between Australia and the world No.1 side.
The first international friendly will be played at Stadium Australia on November 27.
McDonald Jones Stadium was on the list of 13 potential venues across Australia and New Zealand to host World Cup games.
But Newcastle did not make the final cut when the nine host cities and 10 stadiums were named in April.
However, the region had been earmarked in the bid to host teams for training camps in the lead up to the tournament, which will be held from July 10 to August 20 in 2023, and councillor Nelmes believes the city can make a strong impression on the Americans during their time here.
"We weren't on the hosting a match list, which was disappointing, particularly with the growing participation rates in the region of women and girls in football," councillor Nelmes told the Newcastle Herald.
"However, we are on the training camp list and if we can get one, if not two significant teams located here in the Hunter, then we will very much be part of the World Cup. If the Matildas are playing in Sydney, it's probably very likely that they will base where they're already based.
"But I don't see any reason why, if we can build a relationship with the US team, after this visit that they might base themselves here."
It was a sentiment echoed by Northern NSW Football chief David Eland.
"It's a great opportunity for us to put forward our team base camp credentials," Eland said.
"We're going to have the world's biggest female side in our city. It's a great opportunity to put on a great event and hopefully they might think: 'This city has got a fair bit going for it. Maybe we should think about setting ourselves up here for the World Cup'.
"That would be just a huge bonus. Having the game itself is great, but being able to show our city off to the US is also an enormous opportunity. It's a great opportunity for the sport and for the city."
Newcastle products Emily van Egmond, the Matildas long-serving midfielder, and Clare Wheeler, who has earned three caps for her country since making her senior debut against the Republic of Ireland in September, are likely to be on show at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The venue and city have established an affinity with the Matildas in recent time.
A 16,829-strong crowd turned out when they hosted Brazil there in September 2017. The figure proved to be the biggest home crowd for a Matildas match outside of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Novocastrians once again flocked to McDonald Jones Stadium when the Matildas trounced Chile 5-0 in November 2018. Then in March of last year they set up qualification for the Toyko Olympics with victory over Vietnam.
The United States women's football team have not played in Australia for 21 years and the match-ups will pit the Tokyo combatants against each other again after the Americans beat the Matildas 4-3 in the bronze medal play-off in August.
The games come shortly after two clashes with Brazil at Commbank Stadium in October and continues Tony Gustavsson's teams preparations for next year's Asian Cup and the World Cup.
"This is a vital and final opportunity to see the players against an extremely high-quality nation before we select the final squad for the AFC Women's Asian Cup," Gustavsson said.
"Meeting the US Women's National Team on home soil will mark the sixth unique opponent in the top 10 that this team would have faced in 2021.
"With each match, we are continuing to get one day better as a team, and at the same time providing invaluable experience to the younger players in the roster.
"The US Women's National Team are a team with quality across the park and will mark another great challenge for the playing group."
With venue capacities for both matches now lifted by the NSW Government, Football Australia said playing at Stadium Australia presented an opportunity to break the record of 33,000 for a Matildas crowd in Australia.
That figure was set when the Matildas played Sweden during the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
The matches against the US will be one of the first major events in regional NSW since the state was plunged into lockdown due to the coronavirus global pandemic.
Tickets for the Matildas match in Newcastle go on sale to the general public on November 9.
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