Jo: from inside the Matildas camp

Here's a message from Jo Sanders the Matildas team manager. Jo will be sitting next to Robbie Hooker the Matilda's Assistant Coach on the bench for the big game against Brazil tonight. Thanks Jo.

Tianjin is our town. We've been here twice before, two years ago and a few weeks ago for some friendly games. On 16 August, Matildas v China was the first-ever match at the new Tianjin Olympic Stadium, behind closed doors, which we won 3-2.

The second friendly on the 19 August was the first ticketed international match there, played in front of 51,980 local fans and around 20 Aussie screamers (more on that later), which we convincingly won 3-1. The team played great. So Tianjin holds good vibes for us.

So it will be déjà vu in many ways. Tonight's match will be a repeat of our last good performances in Tianjin, I can sense it. And it will be just like the other World Cup matches. The team will prepare for the game in the same way. Tom will still do his crossword in the morning and sip tea on the bench. Some players will find a Starbucks for a coffee and chill out, some will watch DVDs, surf the net, sleep, some will be hyper all day. And for the match itself, well everyone has their own routine. I'll be wearing the same shirt and shorts and do my hair the same (as will most of the players) for the match. No, none of us are superstitious really .....

What will be different will be our playing strip, Brazil is the home team so we'll be wearing our away strip. The gold and green is traditional and looks great, but the away strip is also special and looks fantastic. So the players will love wearing it, they have been wanting to wear it, but FIFA instructs the teams what to wear match by match. Today is the day when the away strip is revealed. Nothing superstitious about a change of playing strip, especially when the players are keen to pull it on!

The "Aussies" who found us at the August Tianjin games were actually a bunch of non-locals who gathered to get some non-local entertainment. Dutch, Scots, Germans, South Africans, etc - even a few Aussies. All of them dressed up in green and gold. Apparently after a while working in Tianjin one needs to get to any type of entertainment similar to their various homelands. So ex-pats from around the globe gather as one and support whatever international activity is going on. We're hoping they'll be back today.

Who can sleep before a big match. And who could sleep after the Canada game. Really, who sleeps at all during a big tournament like this. The adrenalin is pumping - and that's just the staff! Have no idea how the players cope with all this excitement and play as well. They are doing brilliantly.

Germany and USA are through to the semis so far. Everyone thought DPRK could cause a surprise, but the Germans were just too strong. England played well but had a 12-minute blowout in the second half, USA scored 3 goals and then held on comfortably. Most punters would be predicting that Norway and Brazil will be through tonight. But we've done all our bookings for Hangzhou for the semi. Brazil will underestimate us and that will be their undoing. We're still not ready to come home yet!

Again, thanks heaps for all of your good luck and congratulations texts and emails. I am getting them all and really appreciate them all, just a bit strapped to reply individually at the moment. So it's a big collective THANK YOU!

So let's all make Sunday night rock. 10pm kick-off your time. I know it's a school night but you'll be in bed by around midnight having the satisfaction of just witnessing a great match and history being made - again. No I'm not superstitious but here's the same message again - don't forget to cheer EXTREMELY LOUDLY! Enjoy the game everyone.

Cheers, Jo