Cortnee Vine to miss Matildas’ Olympic qualifiers due to personal reasons

Loading

Harding was born in England but moved to Sydney aged six and has previously played in the A-League for the Newcastle Jets before shifting to the Wanderers in 2022, where she has hit career-best form. She played her junior football for Manly United.

“It’s obviously extremely exciting, something I’ve dreamed about for a very long time,” Harding said in a video on the Wanderers’ website. “Sometimes it didn’t really seem achievable … I was very overwhelmed, I actually burst out laughing [when I got the call] because I was so shocked.

“I’m going to go in there super positive and learn as much as I can from these players – they’re some of the best female players in the world so just playing around them is such a privilege.”

What next?

The Matildas will assemble for a camp in Dubai on Monday and will travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan the day before the first leg of…