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Australia are on the Central Coast preparing to play New Zealand in two World Cup preparatory matches.

Thursday's game is behind closed doors but Sunday's clash at Bluetongue Stadium is open to the public as Sermanni begins to finalise his World Cup squad for June’s big event.

Following four intensive camps at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Sermanni reduced his 34 player squad down to 26 players for this camp before selecting his final 21 player list for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 at the end of the month.

With the three keepers – captain Melissa Barbieri, Lydia Williams and Casey Dumont – picking themselves, it leaves 18 outfield spots.

Even with the untimely injury to key striker Kate Gill – which has ruled out the tall forward for Germany - it’s going to be a hugely difficult task to pick the final squad. And Sermanni knows it.

“When you look around the squad and get the vibe from the players it’s very much a sense that it’s a really competitive group of players,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“So some of the calls I’m going to have to make are marginal calls, based on stuff that’s not really critical of the players themselves.

“It’s about a balance of squad and what we need and types of player we need and the group that will be the most competitive when we get to the World Cup.”

Australia will head to the Gold Coast for another training camp early in June before flying into Germany in mid-June ahead of their opening group game against Brazil on June 29 (local  time).

Sermanni added: "There are very few players who’d feel certain of their positions. With that in mind, everybody feels a little on edge and tense.

“The final squad will be very difficult to choose, and in terms of games, it will be considerably less experienced than the last squad in 2007.

"But there’s a mindset amongst this group that they’ve got a real confidence, belief and ambition in themselves that they’re not happy with losing anymore.

“And they’re not happy with just turning up with the hope of getting a draw. Also, the young players, they just don’t seem to be fazed or over-awed by any game, environment or opposition.

"It breeds an attitude of winning games even when things aren’t going well.”

Sunday’s match against the Kiwis kicks off at 3pm.

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