AFC Women's Champions League
Stott and her teammates missed out on a place in the A-Leagues Grand Final last week with a 1-0 loss to Central Coast Mariners in the semi-finals, but the New Zealand international is hoping success at continental level will prove to be the perfect remedy.
“We’re all gutted to go out like that,” Stott said of the defeat, which came after City played most of the game with 10 players . “It was a tough match.
“To go down to 10 was exhausting for us, but I was very proud of the girls for the way that we responded. I think that will give us more tools in our pocket to use in these games and in the future.
“It’s annoying and we’re gutted to miss out on that, but our focus is now all on the AFC Women’s Champions League and we’ll use that as fuel to get a good result.”
Melbourne City had been looking to add the A-Leagues Championship to the Premiership crown won at the end of the regular season for topping the league table, a success that qualifies the club for next year’s edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League.
Their absence from the Grand Final – which was won on Sunday by Central Coast in a penalty shoot-out against Melbourne Victory – has given City more time to focus on continuing their run in this year’s continental championship.
So far City have impressed, topping their group ahead of Bam Khatoon FC, Kaya FC-Iloilo and the College of Asian Scholars in Pathum Thani with a perfect record to advance to the quarter-finals, where they handed Taichung Blue Whale Women's Football Team a 3-0 defeat in Melbourne.
That has set up a semi-final meeting with Red Angels on Wednesday in Wuhan, with the winners facing off against either Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC or Wuhan Jiangda Women's FC in Saturday’s showpiece.
“To head over to Thailand for the group phase was great, it was still in our preseason so it was good to get over there and play some games,” said Stott.
“Then, to play at home in Melbourne in front of our fans against Taichung was cool and something special. We’re excited to be getting to the next stage.
“We’ve been focused all season on the A-Leagues, but we’ve been looking at the Red Angels this week and they look like a quality squad. Very technical and aggressive. They can hurt teams, so we just have to bring our best game and hopefully we can get the best result.”
Melbourne City are attempting to become the first team from Australia to be crowned the continent’s leading women’s club team and Stott thinks success would be the ideal reward for the effort and investment put into the team by everyone in the organisation.
“It would be so special for the club and for all the players involved,” she said. “The club has really supported us as a team and has given us all the resources we need to be professional and to perform on the field.
“It would be extremely special for the whole club to win the AFC Women’s Champions League. It’s so cool for the women’s game that we are given these opportunities now. It’s exciting where football’s gone.”
The 31-year-old defender believes the continued development of the club game across the confederation through competitions such as the AFC Women’s Champions League will play a key role in allowing Asian teams to better compete with those at the game’s summit.
“You’ve got different styles of football everywhere,” she said. “Here in Australia it’s more physical, it’s more similar to the American game in terms of the physical output. But then if you go to elsewhere in Asia, that’s very technical and the players are so gifted.
“It’s cool to join both styles. The talent coming through in Australia is incredible and with this AFC Women’s Champions League it’s going to help grow the game more and more, and hopefully it will help us close the gap on the bigger leagues in the world.”
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