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The Australian national women's soccer team will return to action on home soil in November with matches against Chile in Penrith and Newcastle. The matches against the world No. 39 and recent Copa America runners-up have been arranged to help the Matildas prepare for next year's FIFA Women's World Cup. Aside from Brazil, it's been more than 20 years since Australia faced South American opposition and coach Alen Stajcic was keen to end that run. "We haven't had a lot of experience playing against South American teams," he told AAP. "With Sydney FC, three or four years ago we played against [Chilean club] Colo Colo in a world club championship. Other than that the team's had very little experience playing against teams in South America. "It's a great opportunity to test ourselves against another footballing culture and style of play." The games against Chile, also bound for the 2019 tournament in France, cap a busy 2018 for Stajcic's side. After placing fourth at the Algarve Cup, the Matildas qualified for the World Cup by reaching the final of the Asian Cup in April. They went undefeated through the Tournament of Nations last month and will head to Europe for friendlies with France and England before returning home to face Chile. The matches replicate last year's smash hit series against Brazil, which a total of 32,000 people turned out for over two matches at the same venues. "The atmosphere at our matches in Penrith and Newcastle last year was amazing and I know that the players are looking forward to running out in front of large, vocal home crowds," Stajcic said. Stajcic hailed Chile's rise through the ranks after the team was cut adrift by their local federation. After failing to qualify for the 2015 World Cup, Chile's FA didn't organise any matches for the national team for two years, which resulted in the country plummeting down the world ranking. "Chile have showed how much they've improved and how much effort they've put into women's football. At the Copa America they were fantastic," he said. "Their goalkeeper plays in Spain, she's at a pretty high level. A lot of players are fantastic. Their technical expertise is up there with the best in the world."
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