ODYSSEY. Hayley Raso talks playing across Europe
Matildas star Hayley Raso is back in the UEFA Women’s Champions League yet again – this time for Eintracht Frankfurt.
We catch up with her about these defining experiences, what’s next for her at club and country, and why the Frauen Bundesliga is flourishing…
We’ve seen dynamic midfielder Hayley Raso excel with the Matildas (below, left), most notably in their home World Cup in 2023, where she scored two goals, as well as in the Asian Cup, notching up a total of 108 caps so far. And meanwhile her club career has sometimes seemed like once she left Australia and the USA, she’s been interrailing around Europe, taking in major cities, big clubs and different football cultures. Maybe with a backpack…
Scrolling back in time, the young Raso got her early experiences at Canberra United and Brisbane Roar, with a later, brief return to Melbourne Victory – and her two previous clubs, all on loan. But she started getting her passport stamped seriously with first Washington Spirit, and more importantly, Portland Thorns where she stayed for three seasons, despite the setbacks of multiple injuries, including three fractured vertebrae that could have ended her career.
Then the European odyssey started. She joined Everton in 2020, playing through the Covid season, before moving across the North West to near-neighbours Manchester City, where she played across two seasons and experienced Champions League football for the first time. You could say Raso got the taste for it here, especially in two legs against Real Madrid, and this is where she headed next (below, centre), sampling both La Liga and further UWCL action across 28 matches.
One season later she moved to London, joining more Aussies at Tottenham Hotspur (below, right). Scoring on her debut felt like a great omen, but that ended up being her only goal for Spurs, and no-one was surprised when she chose to move on yet again. With backpack ready, this time the destination was Germany and the Frauen Bundesliga, with Eintracht Frankfurt, and she’s into her second season with them, hungry for more success.
She can now draw on her experience in big games against tough, often physical opposition. And she says the Eintracht Frankfurt project aims to be competing at the top level all the time. And what Raso adds to their formula is confidence and motivation.
I spoke to Hayley Raso before the second leg of Frankfurt’s UWCL qualifiers, an even contest with Paris St Germain, poised at 1-1. She says she thrives in games like these. And her delight at being back in Europe was clear.
My first question is, you’ve had a storied career across club and country, and I wonder, for both of them, what your ambitions are going forward?
Hayley Raso: Yeah, well, firstly, with my club right now, my biggest goal at the moment is for us to go into the Champions League and compete there for another season.
That’s something I really, really want to achieve, as playing in the Champions League before. I know what it’s like, and it’s such an exciting time, and that’s what I want to be doing at club level.
In terms of the national team, we obviously have the World Cup coming up next year, which is the exciting tournament, so all preparation for the national team is leading towards that.
And with the Champions League, you’ve experienced it in some very, very tight matches. I was at the one at Stamford Bridge, which Real Madrid only lost by one goal (2-1).
I wonder if you could tell me about a couple of those games. I was also thinking of one when you at Man City, at home to Real Madrid (lost 1-0), when you hit the bar, didn’t you?
Yeah, I can’t remember them so well!
I remember the two games against Real Madrid when I played for City, and they were tough games, because we lost both.
Then I came to Eintracht Frankfurt, and we drew Real Madrid in that same [qualifier] game. So I was thinking… You know, that’s my luck. I have been knocked out by Real Madrid a few times!
In terms of those games with Real Madrid (below, left), I don’t actually think that season [2023-24] that Real Madrid did as well as they could have. We had a lot of injuries.
I don’t think we got out of the group stage of the Champions League. But yeah, obviously some tight games.
When you’re competing in the Champions League, you’re playing tough games every single week, and you’re playing against top opponents.
So it’s really difficult, so you have to consistently produce good results, but I don’t remember it hugely.
I do that too. If I’ve got something to blank out, I erase it from my memory, which I think you’ve done.
It does feel like the German league is growing into one of the most, competitive leagues where, apart from Bayern Munich, there’s a lot more competition just below, and I wonder if you could explain why that’s happening.
Yeah, you hear a lot of talk about the WSL in England being a top league in women’s football, and it absolutely is.
It’s definitely one of the best leagues in the world, from my experience, but since joining the German league, I can’t speak highly enough.
The competition week in, week out is so tough. Obviously, you have your Bayern and your Wolfsburg, and they’re real elite teams, and you’re always having a tough game there.
But like you said, when you’re playing mid-teams, or even teams lower down the table from last season, you’re getting a really tough game.
The physicality, the strength, the transition game, the way they play, it’s a real challenge.
I mean, we saw that in our league game at the weekend (1-1 draw with Nürnberg). So, there’s no easy games in this league, and I think.
I suppose maybe people don’t realise it as much, but the German league is a really great league. It’s top, the facilities, the teams, the way we play, so…
I don’t know exactly the answer to your question, but I speak really highly of the German league in terms of where it’s at in women’s football.
Photos: Helen M Jerome, UEFA
