Amy Joan Irene Sayer is an Australian football player at Sydney FC. She primarily plays as an attacking midfielder but was also deployed as a defensive midfielder in the Under-20s National team. She is known for her vision, passing, all round technical ability, and her ability to play and score with both feet. On 16 July 2018, Sayer received her first call up to the Matildas, the senior Australian Women's Team, for the 2018 Tournament of Nations.
Early life and education
Born in Sydney, Australia, Sayer grew up in Northern Sydney, where she later attended Barker College. She was granted special permission to not attend classes due to her international team commitments and playing for Canberra United during the W-League season.
Club career
Sayer began her youth career at Northbridge FC, as well as playing futsal and football at the FNSW Institute. Several clubs were interested in signing Sayer for the 2016 W-League season, however due to her age, she decided to stay closer to home, signing for Sydney University on a youth contract. Canberra United signed several young talents to play in the 2017 W-League season. Sayer joined the club after some impressive performances for the Australian National U-20 Women's Team, along with teammates Georgia Plessas, Georgia Boric, Clare Hunt and Karly Roestbakken. On 25 November, Amy Sayer scored her first goal in the country's top division in a 3–2 home win against Perth Glory at McKellar Park. Sayer finished the season with one goal in 10 appearances, as well as being deployed in various positions such as an attacking midfielder and a left winger by manager Heather Garriock. Sayer signed for Sydney FC on 4 September 2018 after one season at Canberra United in the W-League. On 3 November, she scored her maiden goal for her new club in her first appearance. On 9 November 2018, Sayer was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right foot. She was withdrawn from the Australia squad for the Seven Consulting Series against Chile, and was ruled out for at least 12 weeks. Her next appearance in a football match will be in January 2019, at the earliest.
International career
Sayer made her international youth debut on 25 August 2016, in a 28–0 demolition of Palestine, played at Vietnam. She marked her debut with one goal and seven assists in the first half of the match. She followed the first cap with three more dominating displays against Hong Kong, Iraq and Vietnam. At the age of 14 years old, Sayer earned her first call up to the U-20 squad for the AFC Pre-Qualifiers in November 2016. She made two appearances in two games, playing full minutes and scoring two goals. Following her debut tournament, Sayer was reselected in the Young Matilda's squad for the friendly series against USA and Canada in July 2017, and for the 2017 AFC Qualification Tournament held in China where she made four more appearances in the group stage and final series. She made another appearance in the 2018 friendly match against Thailand where she scored one goal. On 16 July 2018, Alen Stajcic called up Sayer to the Senior Matildas squad to participate in the Tournament of Nations in USA after impressing in her maiden W-League season in with 10 appearances. She earned her first international cap as a 93rd-minute substitute in the 2018 Tournament of Nations against Japan. Sayer was called up to the Matildas squad for the second time to play matches against France and England in October 2018. She came on as a substitute against France but couldn't salvage a 2-0 defeat, while she started the second match against England in a 1-1 draw following a last minute header from Claire Polkinghorne. Later in October, Sayer joined the Young Matildas on their trip to Lebanon, to play Mongolia, Lebanon and Hong Kong. She scored a hat-trick in the 18-0 demolition of Mongolia, while an assist and a goal against Lebanon and one assist with a brace against Hong Kong, converting the first from the penalty spot, and the second from outside the box. On 9 November 2018, Sayer withdrew from the Matildas squad in the two-match series against Chile after a stress fracture diagnosis. She will be out for a minimum of 12 weeks
Style of Play
An attacking midfielder and playmaker, Sayer is adept at finding quality forward passes and likes to combine with others for quick passing moves rather than carrying the ball too often. While Sayer is an excellent athlete, her style draws more on her technical range, vision and creativity and she would prefer to play an incisive pass or use one touch passing combinations to beat a player – rather than looking to rely on speed in a footrace. In the front third she is an increasingly unpredictable and dangerous attacker as she adds more variety to her attacking style – while she is naturally inclined to look for a clever through pass or combination play to attack the opponent's penalty box, she is equally capable of scoring from range on either foot and is demonstrating this more and more with some eye-catching long distance goals at club and international level.
