Strong Westfield Matildas squad for Tournament of Nations

All of the Westfield Matildas’ overseas based stars have been named in a strong 21-player squad for the upcoming Tournament of Nations being held in the USA at the end of July.

Westfield Matildas Head Coach Alen Stajcic has included a number of his big names including the red hot Samantha Kerr, who was recently named the NWSL Player of the Week for the second time this season after scoring a stunning hat-trick for her club Sky Blue FC in the United States.

With 13 players selected in the squad currently signed at overseas clubs, Stajcic is buoyed by the number of his charges who are playing regularly and performing well ahead of high quality matches against world number one ranked USA, FIFA Women’s World Cup Finalists Japan and South American powerhouse Brazil.

“We monitor the overseas based players daily and have contact with them weekly, so we keep tabs on them pretty closely and make sure the communication lines are always open between us and them,” said Stajcic.

“Sam’s exploits over in the NWSL this season are a great confidence booster for the team. We’ve got a lot of players plying their trade overseas and doing really well.

“Tameka Butt and Emily Gielnik have been two of the leading scorers in Norway, the players in America are doing really well, Caitlin Foord and Katrina Gorry have been performing well in Japan, but the main thing is that we’ve got a lot of players playing and in good form coming into the tournament.”

Stajcic has also included uncapped 17-year-old Princess Ibini after she impressed while playing for the Westfield Young Matildas in recent matches against Canada and the USA in Canberra.

Ibini, the sister of former Sydney FC winger Bernie, joins Ellie Carpenter as the two players in the squad born in this millennium.

“We’ve always known she’s got a lot of potential but she really stepped up in the games against Canada and America last week, so it’s a great sign that she’s been able to progress to senior international football,” said Stajcic of Ibini.

The Australian based players in the squad took part in a training camp in Canberra last week and while Stajcic admits the limited preparation and time together for the tournament is a challenge, he is relishing the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the world.

“It was good to get the Australian based players together into camp and some of the younger ones did well so that was really good,” said Stajcic.

“Players like Emily (van Egmond) haven’t played for six weeks while some of the others have been playing at a local NPL level for a couple of months so it was a chance to bring them back up to the speed and fitness we want them at for the tournament.”

“Players in America will have games right up until five days before our first match against the USA so everyone in the squad will be coming from different starting points which is a challenge, but the quality of the opposition we will face is something that is going to be fantastic experience for our group.

“We’re really looking forward to testing ourselves.”

Recognised strike pair Michelle Heyman and Kyah Simon are both absent from the squad as they continue their rehabilitation from injury.

The Westfield Matildas are yet to beat the USA in 26 attempts and have healthy rivalries and history with their other two opponents in the tournament, Japan and Brazil.

With all four nations sitting inside the top eight on the FIFA Women’s world rankings, Stajcic is excited by what lies ahead.

“Being in the preparation phase for next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup, these are exactly the kind of matches we want and the opposition we want to test ourselves against,” said Stajcic.

“It gives us a chance to look at things we are doing well and things we need to improve on to become a dominant force at the 2018 Women’s Asian Cup and the Women’s World Cup in 2019.”

The Australian based players in the squad will depart for the USA on 21 July.

The Westfield Matildas’ first match of the Tournament of Nations is a blockbuster against hosts USA in Seattle (kick-off 12.00pm AEST Friday 28 July 2017).

Westfield Matildas squad – 2017 Tournament of Nations

Name	Date of Birth	Club, Country	A International Caps (Goals)
Lydia Williams (gk)	13/05/1988	Houston Dash, USA	60 (0)
Gema Simon	19/07/1990	Avaldsnes, Norway	8 (0)
Caitlin Cooper	12/02/1988	Illawarra Stingrays, Australia	7 (1)
Clare Polkinghorne	1/02/1989	Brisbane Roar FC, Australia	95 (7)
Laura Alleway	28/11/1989	–	48 (2)
Chloe Logarzo	22/12/1994	Avaldsnes, Norway	12 (0)
Steph Catley	26/01/1994	Orlando Pride, USA	57 (2)
Elise Kellond-Knight	10/08/1990	FC Turbine Potsdam, Germany	80 (1)
Caitlin Foord	11/11/1994	Vegalta Sendai, Japan	53 (8)
Emily van Egmond	12/07/1993	VfL Wolfsburg, Germany	61 (14)
Lisa De Vanna	14/11/1984	South Melbourne Women’s, Australia	121 (40)
Tameka Butt	16/06/1991	Klepp I-L, Norway	56 (7)
Alanna Kennedy	21/01/1995	Orlando Pride, USA	52 (3)
Emily Gielnik	13/05/1992	Avaldsnes, Norway	13 (4)
Hayley Raso	5/09/1994	Portland Thorns, USA	16 (1)
Princess Ibini	31/01/2000	Football NSW NTC, Australia	–
Mackenzie Arnold (gk)	25/02/1994	Brisbane Roar FC, Australia	12 (0)
Katrina Gorry	13/08/1992	Vegalta Sendai, Japan	52 (13)
Sam Kerr	10/09/1993	Sky Blue FC, USA	50 (8)
Ellie Carpenter	28/04/2000	Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia	7 (1)
Alex Chidiac	15/01/1999	Adelaide City Women’s, Australia	3 (0)