It was a busy week for Sydney FC on the junior international stage with nine players in action across the Australian U23 & U20’s sides.
New signing Skye Halmarick stole the headlines with six goals across two matches, while the U23’s got the job done in Vietnam.
U20’s
The Young Matildas were in Tajikistan for the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers and secured qualification with three wins from three matches.
The Young Matildas opened the tournament with a 14-0 victory over the hosts and followed that up with a 3-0 victory over Palestine.
In the opening match, Halmarick scored four & Amber Luchtmeijer also got one along with Maddie Caspers. Rubi Sullivan also started that match at left back.
Against Palestine, Amber found the net again, on hand to tap in a save from the keeper with Caley Tallon-Henniker wearing the captain’s armband for that clash.
In last night’s encounter with Chinese Taipei, Halmarick found the net twice more with her second goal the pick of the bunch as she beat two defenders before hammering an effort home into the far post.
It was great to see all seven Sky Blue representatives involved with the U20’s across the two week period.
The team now head into the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup which will be held in Thailand in 2026.
U23’s
It wasn’t the best start for the Australian U23’s as they fell to Myanmar in the opening match of the ASEAN Women’s Championships in Vietnam.
Abbey Lemon, a late inclusion into the squad, started for the Green and Gold and they knew that following that match they needed to improve for the rest of the tournament.
Thankfully they did so, with Tori Tumeth captaining the side as they defeated the reigning champions, The Philippines, by a solitary goal.
Their final game of the Group Stage will come against Timor Leste on Wednesday night with the group winner heading through to the Semi Finals.
