A provisional 23-player squad has been named for the Young Matildas' World Cup campaign alongside an additional nine 'shadow' players ahead of a 10-day training camp in Mexico in preparation for the tournament to be held in Costa Rica.
The squad will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to take part in both the camp and a closed-door match against Mexico’s U-20 side on July 26, before the final 21-player squad is decided at the end of the month.
The side will then travel to the host country on August 1, continuing their tournament preparation with another closed-door friendly against Colombia's U-20 squad before the competition gets underway on August 11.
Upon announcement of the extended squad, Young Matildas head coach Blayney warned that the final squad of 21 is far from decided as the coming weeks of training and warm-up matches will be used to help players stake their claim for selection.
“I’m really excited with the players the coaching staff have selected in this extended squad, as they are not only highly talented footballers but quality people,” Blayney said.
“While twenty-three players will initially travel to Mexico for a pre-tournament camp, it doesn’t mean those named as shadow players won’t be considered for selection in the final squad for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
“Due to strong competition for spots amongst the group, it will be a real challenge to select the final 21, but by intent, the squad will likely be the youngest at this year’s tournament."
Among the 23 players currently selected for the Young Matildas are Sydney FC stars Charlize Rule, Jessika Nash and Sarah Hunter, but Blayney maintains that the otherwise relative inexperience of the squad will not hinder their chances of progressing beyond the group stage in Costa Rica.
"We have an exciting group of footballers coming through in both the CommBank Young and Junior Matildas’ ranks, and while we will have played a lot less football at both a domestic and international level than those we will face in Costa Rica, I’m confident that the final 21 we select will match or eclipse any team for desire and competitive spirit, plus deliver performances that Australian fans will be proud of,” she said.
After two years of significant interruption upon the national team's development from COVID-19, the Young Matildas will initially face Brazil (13 August), Spain (16 August) and the host country (11 August) as they look to progress beyond Group A and advance to the quarter-finals in next month's tournament.
According to Blayney, the selection of 16 members from the current squad in Australia’s U-23 Representative team that competed in the AFF Women’s Championship in the Philippines earlier this year will provide some much needed international exposure ahead of their first match.
“Because of the pandemic, our national youth teams have been starved of international competition over recent years when compared to the rest of the world,” Blayney said.
“It was a deliberate move by Football Australia to send an Under-23 representative team to the AFF Women’s Championship, to provide important training time and match minutes for a large number of footballers we had earmarked for the World Cup honours in Costa Rica.”
Extended Squad: Alexia APOSTOLAKIS, Naomi CHINNAMA, Jynaya DOS SANTOS, Kirsty FENTON, Daniela GALIC, Sheridan GALLAGHER, Katie GODDEN , Greta KRASZULA, Bryleeh HENRY, Sarah HUNTER, Sally JAMES , Kahli JOHNSON, Abbey LEMON, Chloe LINCOLN, Hana LOWRY, Alana MURPHY, Jessika NASH, Jamilla RANKIN, Cushla RUE, Charlize RULE, Miranda TEMPLEMAN, Ella TONKIN, Paige ZOIS
Shadow Players: Gemma FERRIS, Tahlia FRANCO, Shay HOLLMAN, Alana JANCEVSKI, Caitlin KARIC, Leticia MCKENNA, Anna NORTON, Sienna SAVESKA, Hayley TAYLOR-YOUNG
All of Australia’s matches for the tournament will be shown live and free on SBS and SBS On Demand with a full studio broadcast.
