Hello and welcome to live coverage of the women’s international friendly between the Matildas and Japan. This is the opening match of the SheBelieves Cup, an annual invitational tournament held in the Unites States and featuring four teams including the hosts and this year also Colombia. This is the first time that Australia and the South Americans have been invited to the tournament, while Japan are back for a fifth time. With four high-quality sides playing three matches each across six days it promises to be a whirlwind event and the ideal launching pad for Australia to start their year. While Matildas will seek to win the tournament, they will also be out to build momentum heading towards the Women’s Asian Cup on home soil especially after a rollercoaster 2024 that ended with more lows than highs. This most important match of the series for the Matildas is arguably today’s against the No 8-ranked Japan which will be among the leading contenders at the Asian Cup in little more than a year. Kick-off time in Houston is 4pm local / 9am AEDT. I’ll be back shortly with the line-ups and team news. To share any comments, queries, ideas or predictions just shoot me an email, or find me on Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social and X @martinpegan. Let’s get into it!