The Sydney FC W-League team have been rewarded for another stellar season with 10 players being named in the Westfield Matildas World Cup squad.
The Sydney FC W-League team have been rewarded for another stellar season with 10 players being named in the Westfield Matildas World Cup squad.
The Westfield Matildas will commence their first selection camp for the FIFA Women-s World Cup tomorrow with a four day camp at the AIS in Canberra.
Included in the camp is the bulk of the AFC Women-s Asian Cup winning squad from 2010 with the exception of star striker Kate Gill who has returned to Sweden for club commitments.
With Brisbane Roar, Canberra United and Sydney FC making up the majority of the squad, players from Westfield W-League clubs Melbourne Victory, Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets have also forced their way into selection including the return of Hayley Crawford to the squad following an eight year absence from the Westfield Matildas squad.
Also in the squad is 16-year-old Caitlin Foord who will be pushing for a spot in the 21-player squad following a standout debut season for Sydney FC in the Westfield W-League.
The camp, running from March 3-6, will be the first camp in a series that will decide the final 21 players (18 outfield and three goalkeepers) who will make up the squad who will travel to Germany in June to play for the FIFA Women-s World Cup.
“All of these players have just been through a highly competitive Westfield W-League season,” said Westfield Matildas Head Coach Tom Sermanni.
“I-ve seen a lot of good things in the last four months and have brought in the players selected for this first camp on their performance throughout the season.
“There are still other players I am looking at outside of this group but with only 21 (from 23 chosen for the AFC Women-s Asian Cup) places for the final it is going to be a very competitive few months for spots on the plane to Germany.”
The Westfield Matildas play Brazil, Norway and Equatorial Guinea in their three group matches at the FIFA Women-s World Cup in June/July this year.
WESTFIELD MATILDAS SELECTION TRAINING CAMP
3-6 March 2011
AIS, Canberra
Squad: Collette McCallum (Perth Glory), Samantha Kerr (Perth Glory), Laura Alleway (Brisbane Roar), Karla Reuter (Brisbane Roar), Kim Carroll (Brisbane Roar), Clare Polkinghorne (Brisbane Roar), Brooke Spence (Brisbane Roar), Elise Kellond-Knight (Brisbane Roar), Casey Dumont (gk) (Brisbane Roar), Aivi Luik (Brisbane Roar), Tameka Butt (Brisbane Roar), Lauren Colthorpe (Brisbane Roar) , Lisa De Vanna (Brisbane Roar), Melissa Barbieri (gk) (Melbourne Victory), Lydia Williams (gk) (Canberra United), Emily Van Egmond (Canberra United), Sally Shipard (Canberra United), Caitlin Munoz (Canberra United), Ellie Brush (Canberra United), Michelle Heyman (Canberra United), Ellyse Perry (Canberra United), Servet Uzunlar (Sydney FC), Kyah Simon (Sydney FC), Kylie Ledbrook (Sydney FC), Leena Khamis (Sydney FC), Teigen Allen (Sydney FC), Danielle Brogan (Sydney FC), Caitlin Foord (Sydney FC), Catherine Canulli (Sydney FC), Thea Slatyer (Newcastle Jets), Hayley Crawford (Newcastle Jets), Heather Garriock (Sydney FC), Sarah Walsh (Sydney FC)
Group A
Germany (2)
Japan (5)
USA (1)
Brazil (3)
Group B
Canada (9)
New Zealand (23)
Korea DPR (6)
Australia (12)
Group C
Nigeria (27)
Mexico (22)
Colombia (32)
Norway (7)
Group D
France (8)
England (10)
Sweden (4)
Equatorial Guinea (62)