Qantas Young Matildas coach Alistair Edwards has named his starting line-up for tonight’s opening match at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship against New Zealand to be played at St Petersburg’s Petrovsky Stadium in Russia.
The line-up features five players - captain Sally Shipard, fellow midfielders Collette McCallum, Kylie Ledbrook, Leah Blayney and goalkeeper Lydia Williams - that were members of the Qantas Matildas squad which last month qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Adelaide.
The starting eleven is: Lydia Williams (gk); Clare Polkinghorne, Kim Carroll, Danielle Brogan, Olivia Kennedy; Leah Blayney, Kylie Ledbrook, Sally Shipard, Collette McCallum; Sasha McDonnell and Leena Khamis.
Australia will have all players available for selection after initial concerns that some might not overcome injuries sustained in Australia’s 3-0 training match loss to Canada on Sunday.
Edwards believes that the his team’s key players will need to be playing at the top their game if Australia is to progress past their tough group, which also includes South American champions Brazil and European champions and host-nation Russia.
“Sally (Shipard), Collette (McCallum) have been amongst the standout players for the Qantas Matildas, and Kylie (Ledbrook), Leah (Blayney) and Lydia (Williams) were all in Adelaide," said Edwards.
"We do need those players to stand up there is no doubt about it.
“We are playing against the best players in the world and each team that we play against have got similar types of players. You can have the best tactics worked out; we can talk about the pressing game; talk about possession, but the fact is when we come down to it, we need our key players to perform.
“We need Sally; we need Collette, Kylie, Leah and Sasha (McDonnell) to really step up in these kind of games, if we want to get progress in the tournament.â€
Edwards also believes the loss against Canada could actually be a blessing in disguise and a reality check for everyone involved.
“The players really struggled for particularly the first half hour; it’s probably the worst we’ve ever played. As the game wore on we started to get back into it and surprisingly enough we played our best football when we had ten players, which was in the last 30 minutes.
“But since then the training sessions have been fantastic and I definitely think it has refocused everyone including myself, the staff and everyone here. It emphasized that we are playing against the best teams in the world and if we want to go out there and perform, we have to put on a much better performances than what we did against Canada.
“The training sessions have been unbelievably intense and its been fantastic.
“To be honest the game against Canada was not good enough but I can say that the players are very focused as a result of that.â€
All of Australia’s matches at the tournament will be telecast on SBS TV including tonight’s match against New Zealand commencing at 11pm AEST.
The Qantas Young Matildas became the first Australian team to qualify for a World Championship via an Asian qualifying tournament when they defeated Japan in a play-off for third in Malaysia in April. China and DPR (North) Korea will be the other teams representing Asia in Russia.
Australia’s match against New Zealand in St Petersburg on August 17 will be the first of the tournament although the other Group A match later that evening between Russia and Brazil is considered the official opening match of the tournament. Three days later Australia will meet Brazil, also in St Petersburg, before moving to Moscow for the final group match against Russia on August 23. The final will be played in Moscow on September 3.
Match Schedule:
Australia v New Zealand, Petrovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
17 August, 4pm (10pm EST)
Australia v Brazil, Petrovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
20 August, 4pm (10pm EST)
Australia v Russia, Torpedo Stadium, Moscow
23 August, 4pm (10pm EST)
The Qantas Young Matildas squad for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship is:
Goalkeepers
Lydia Williams (current home city – Canberra), Alison Logue (Newcastle), Kate Stewart (Hervey Bay)
Defenders
Clare Polkinghorne (Brisbane), Danielle Brogan (Sydney), Kim Carroll (Brisbane), Grace Gill (Canberra), Nicole Somi (Canberra)
Midfielders
Olivia Kennedy (Sydney), Sally Shipard (Canberra), Kylie Ledbrook (Sydney), Leah Blayney (Blue Mountains), Amy Chapman (Canberra), Caitlin Cooper (Sydney), Collette McCallum (Perth), Amy Jackson (Melbourne), Renee Cartwright (Sydney)
Forwards
Jenna Tristram (Coffs Harbour), Servet Uzunlar (Sydney), Sasha McDonnell (Brisbane), Leena Khamis (Sydney)
FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, RUSSIA 2006
TV COVERAGE - SBS-TV :
Thursday 17 August @ 11pm
Australia v New Zealand - DELAYED
(Followed by Brazil v Russia @ 1am – LIVE)
Sunday 20 August @ 11pm
Australia v Brazil - DELAYED
Wednesday 23 August @ 11pm
Australia v Russia - DELAYED
Quarter Final (dependant on Australia appearing)
Saturday 26 August @ 9.45pm (LIVE) or Sunday 27 August @ 12.45am (LIVE)
Semi Finals
Thursday 31 August @ 9.45pm (LIVE)
(Followed by second semi final)
Match for 3rd place (dependent on Australia appearing)
Sunday 3 September @ 10.45pm (LIVE)
Final
Monday 4 September @ 12.45am (LIVE)
Matildas kick off tonight - watch SBS
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