On Wednesday, the travel roster for the Australia Women National Team’s upcoming trip to the United States was released by their FA. The Matildas will be playing the United States Women’s National Team in two friendlies, on September 16th and the 19th, along with a tune-up match against the WNT of Haiti prior to those friendlies on September 13th.
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ROSTER NOTES
MISSING THEIR TOP THREE ‘KEEPERS — Australia will be traveling with twenty players and will be missing all three of their goalkeepers from the 2011 Women’s World CUp: starter Melissa Barbieri (maternity leave), plus back-ups Lydia Williams (ACL injury) and Casey Dumont (groin injury).
YOUNG GOALKEEPERS — The two ‘keepers that the Matilda did bring are still in their teens: 18 year-old Mackenzie Arnold and 17 year-old Brianna Davey. Neither has a senior international cap.
OTHER PLAYERS NOT AVAILABLE — At least five other players are not fully available for the Matildas, including starting left fullback Elise Kellond-Knight (knee injury), starting wide-midfielder/winger Heather Garriock (maternity leave), midfielder Tameka Butt (foot or ankle injury), and forward Leena Khamis (ACL injury). Also, two-sport international Ellyse Perry was left out due to a combination of commitments from her other sport, cricket, and university exams (brisbanetimes.com.au).
WALSH RETIRING — These matches will be forward Sara Walsh’s last international matches as she has recently announced her retirement from international soccer (www.footballaustralia.com.au). Currently, she has 67 caps and 31 goals.
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TABLE: Australia’s Travel Roster for September 2012 Trip
PLAYER P. D.O.B. AGE HT. Caps Goals Allen, Teigen DF 02/12/1994 18.6 168 16 0 Alleway, Laura DF 11/28/1989 22.8 178 10 0 Arnold, Mackenzie GK ??/??/1994 18.? ??? 0 0 Brogan, Danielle DF 06/28/1988 24.2 168 3 0 Brown, Ashley FW 12/04/1994 17.8 174 3 0 Catley, Stephanie MF 01/26/1994 18.6 168 3 0 Davey, Brianna GK 01/13/1995 17.7 175 0 0 de Vanna, Lisa FW 11/14/1984 27.8 156 82 26 Foord, Caitlin DF 11/11/1994 17.8 165 10 0 Gielnik, Emily FW 05/13/1992 20.3 183 1 0 Gill, Kate FW 12/10/1984 27.8 180 71 34 Heyman, Michelle FW 07/04/1988 24.2 175 6 0 Kennedy, Alanna DF 01/21/1995 17.7 ??? 0 0 Kerr, Samantha FW 09/10/1993 19.0 167 18 3 McCallum, Collette MF 03/26/1986 26.5 165 72 11 Polkinghorne, Clare MF 02/01/1989 23.6 171 55 2 Simon, Kyah FW 06/25/1991 21.2 164 37 7 Uzunlar, Servet DF 08/03/1989 23.1 161 32 1 van Egmond, Emily MF 07/23/1993 19.2 179 11 3 Walsh, Sarah FW 01/11/1983 29.7 157 74 37
- Position, height, and birthdate data has been culled from FIFA.com, the FFA’s website (footballaustralia.com.au/matildas/players), and other sources.
- As always the primary positions listed (“P.” column) should be taken with a grain of salt.
- Age is as of September 16th, which is the date of the first friendly against the USA.
- Heights (“HT.” column) are in centimeters. (183cm = 6 ft. 168cm = 5 ft, 6.5 in.)
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AUSTRALIA’S MATCH SCHEDULE
Thursday, September 13th: Haiti vs. Australia
Location: Michael A. Caroll Stadium (IUPUI); Indianapolis, Indiana
Kick-off: 7:00 p.m. local time
Sunday, September 16th: United States vs. Australia
Location: The Home Depot Center; Carson, California
Kick-off: 3:30 p.m. EDT (12:30 p.m. local time)
TV: NBC (live)
Wednesday, September 19th: United States vs. Australia
Location: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colorado
Kick-off: 10:00 p.m. EDT (8:00 p.m. local time)
TV: ESPN2 and ESPN3.com (live)
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USA-AUSTRALIA SERIES
Australia has never defeated the United States in 21 tries, but has earned two draws: a 1:1 tie in the squad’s final group match of the 2004 Olympics, and a scoreless friendly in Fullerton, California.
The last time the two teams met was in 2008, in the Peace Queen Cup, held in South Korea. That match was a 2:1 win for the United States and was the third meeting between the two squads in 2008, as the Matildas and the Americans played a pair of friendlies in the States. Both of those friendlies were wins by the USA, but only by a single goal each time.
Australia is currently ranked 9th in the FIFA rankings, so the upcoming friendlies with the USA will be worth double ranking points as each team is in the top ten.
Women's Soccer Express 