CommBank Young Matildas head coach Leah Blayney has named a 28-player squad for a six-day training camp commencing today in Sydney.
The assembly presents an opportunity for a host of uncapped youth representative players to show their quality as Australia commences their preparations for the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2024™.
The U-20 Women’s ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Team booked their place in the Finals following victories over Lebanon, IR Iran, and Vietnam in June to top Group B of the second round of qualification.
Following intensive scouting at July’s NTC Challenge and across the nation over the last eight weeks, Blayney is excited about the chance to see some new faces in the national team environment.
“Qualification for next year’s tournament now provides us with some valuable time to search the nation for additional players who can be beneficial to our campaign in Uzbekistan,” Blayney said.
“As the CommBank Matildas’ achievements at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ have shown, there are some incredibly talented young players in Australia and the future is bright. We want to give them the chance to continue developing their qualities in a high-performance environment with staff who deeply care about their progression.”
“It’s also an opportunity for further team cohesion for those players who have been with us consistently since last September. Another focus for us is constructing tactical flexibility within the team as we build towards the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup. A chance to impart and embed our principles early is one we want to fully utilise.”
August’s squad has seven new faces with representation from six different Member Federations and close to 20 different clubs.
COMMBANK YOUNG MATILDAS SQUAD | TRAINING CAMP | 21-26 AUGUST 2023
NAME | POSITION | CLUB | MEMBER FEDERATION |
Josie ALLAN | Forward | Newcastle Jets FC Academy | Northern NSW Football |
Alexia APOSTOLAKIS | Defender | Bankstown City Lions FC on loan from Western Sydney Wanderers FC| Football NSW |
Tegan BERTOLISSIO | Defender | Macarthur Rams | Football NSW |
Claudia CICCO | Forward | APIA Leichhardt FC | Football NSW |
Rosie CURTIS | Midfielder | Box Hill United FC | Football Victoria |
Anika DOVASTON | Midfielder | FV Emerging | Football Victoria |
Jonti FISHER | Forward | QAS | Football Queensland |
Tahlia FRANCO | Goalkeeper | Football NSW Institute | Football NSW |
Daniela GALIC | Midfielder | Future Matildas NSW | Football NSW |
Sasha GROVE | Forward | Illawarra Stingrays FC | Capital Football |
Milan HAMMOND | Forward | Newcastle Jets FC Academy | Northern NSW Football |
Fiorina IARIA | Forward | Calder United | Football Victoria |
Kahli JOHNSON | Forward | Manly United FC | Football NSW |
Grace JOHNSTON | Midfielder | WA NTC | Football West |
Zoe KARIPIDIS | Defender | Newcastle Jets FC Academy | Northern NSW Football |
Zara KRUGER | Midfielder | Lions FC | Football Queensland |
Tanika LALA | Forward | WA NTC | Football West |
Chloe LINCOLN | Goalkeeper | Canberra Croatia Football Club on loan from Canberra United | Football NSW |
Maya LOBO | Defender | Macarthur Rams | Football NSW |
Alana MURPHY | Midfielder | Blacktown Spartans FC | Football Victoria |
Jessika NASH | Defender | Bulls FC Academy | Football NSW |
Ava PIAZZA | Defender | Heidelberg United FC | Football NSW |
Natalie PICAK | Goalkeeper | Calder United | Football Victoria |
Avaani PRAKASH | Midfielder | Bulls FC Academy | Football NSW |
Sienna SAVESKA | Midfielder | Football NSW Institute | Football NSW |
Naomi THOMAS-CHINNAMA | Defender | Blacktown Spartans FC | Football Victoria |
Peta TRIMIS | Forward | Bulls FC Academy | Football NSW |
Chloe WALANDOUW | Defender | Newcastle Jets FC Academy | Northern NSW Football |