Matildas Squad Named For Cup

Included in the squad are European based players Kathryn Gill (LdB Malmo – Sweden), Lauren Colthorpe (Fortuna Hjørring - Denmark) and recent PFA Cheryl Salisbury medalist Servet Uzunlar (Fortuna Hjørring - Denmark).

Joining them are a host of Westfield W-League players including 2010 Footballer of the Year winner Clare Polkinghorne (Brisbane Roar) and U20 Footballer of the Year winner Sam Kerr (Perth Glory).

Although preparation for the upcoming matches has been limited, Sermanni believes that the next three weeks will be a good guide in how the team is progressing before the beginning of the Westfield W-League season on November 6.

“All of our players are in full training for the Westfield W-League so the team is fit and ready to play,” said Sermanni.

“Hopefully our European based players come back fresh as the team will only have a couple of days to prepare before the first match against Mexico on October 17.

“This should be a good test for us as Mexico are in final preparations for their World Cup qualifiers and of course Germany will be our biggest test since the Asian Cup and will give me a good understanding of where we stand and what we need to focus on before June 2011.”

The squad will be missing the services of three senior members of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup winning squad including Lisa De Vanna, who is on the comeback from the broken leg she sustained at the Asian Cup, Heather Garriock who is being rested following a busy post Asian Cup schedule in Denmark and will use the time to fully recover from her recent minor ankle surgery, and Sarah Walsh who will miss the trip to concentrate on a full recovery from recent injury set-backs.

The Westfield Matildas will face Mexico and Taiwan in Group B at the 2010 Peace Queen Cup with Korea Republic, England and New Zealand making up Group A. The winners from each group will advance to the Final in Suwon.

The Westfield Matildas then head to Germany where they will play a one-off friendly match against World number 2 ranked Germany in Wolfsburg on October 28.

Westfield Matildas squad for 2010 Peace Queen Cup and Germany match