Matildas eye place in Cup last eight

Jun 21, 2015 - 2:07 PM Confident coach Alen Stajcic believes his battle-hardened Matildas are ready to make Australian football history in their Women's World Cup clash with Brazil.

On the eve of their round of 16 clash in Moncton, Canada on Monday (3am AEST), there was nothing but positivity coming from the Matildas camp.

"Australia's never won a knockout match in a men's or women's World Cup so it's a big game for the country," said Stajcic.

Despite the high stakes, Stajcic believed they were primed and focused after battling through the tournament's group of death and were ready to claim an historic quarter-final berth.

"You really get nervous and over-aroused when you haven't done the preparation and you think you're not good enough," he said.

"With the work this team has done I feel calm and relaxed.

"I'm confident in our team ... we're battle-hardened now.

"I truly believe if we play our best football we'll be the winners."

The Matildas have led the way for Australian football previously, winning the 2011 Asian Cup before the Socceroos followed in 2015 with much greater fanfare.

Against Brazil, Stajcic said he could make one or two changes to "to freshen the team up" after three bruising encounters.

The South American champions have won all three of their matches in Canada and boast a trio of world class players; goal machine Cristiane, 37-year-old legend Formiga and five-time world player of the year Marta.

Defensive midfielder Elise Kellond-Knight said the Matildas' speed in attack would be key.

"The Brazilians may have a little bit of a weakness in their back line in terms of pace, if we can exploit that we'll end up with a really good result," she said.

The 24-year-old predicted a rewarding experience for any Australian-based fans preparing to tune in at 3am.

"It's going to be a very exciting encounter, (we're) both very attacking minded teams," she said.

"It's going to be a great game to not only take part in but also to watch."

Source: AAP