Busy Schedules for our International Players
The Matilda?s began the month with a preparation camp for their current tour of the United States, where they will be playing against the World?s number 1 ranked team on two occasions. The Matilda?s have yet to beat the U.S who are preparing for the Beijing Olympics, making this no easy assignment either.
Upon returning to Australia, FFA has recently announced that the Matilda?s will face off against World Cup foes Canada in a match to be held in conjunction with the Socceroos vs. Ghana clash in Sydney. This will be a great chance for Sydney fans to go out and support the Matilda?s on home soil against a top ranked nation.
These matches will be great preparation for the Matilda?s as they mount their Asian Cup assault in Vietnam which begins in early June followed by the Peace Cup in South Korea immediately after. All in all, the Matilda?s will play around 15 Internationals in the coming months with several of these being against the top Nations in the world including the U.S, Brazil, Japan, China, Canada and South Korea.
The other National Teams, the U/17?s and U/20?s (Young Matilda?s) also kicked off their programs in April with camps down at the AIS. For both these teams it was the first camp in a long preparation as they attempt to qualify for World Cups in 2010. Over 25 of these players came from Football NSW areas.
Whilst in camp, both teams played games against New Zealand?s current U/17?s team, who are hosting this years first ever U/17?s Women?s World Cup. For many young players this was their first taste of International experience despite only being in most cases 14 or 15 years of age. Both teams face World Cup pre-qualification in October this year as well as National Titles representing their states in July.
In the meantime, the NSWIS Women have continued their participation in the Premier Youth League Boys competitions giving the players great competitive edge as they have headed off to compete for National selections. To see if the Girls are playing in your local area check out the Football NSW website and go to Competitions section, Boys Premier Youth League, 14?s & 15?s fixtures