Matildas squad announced for Korea Republic trip

Matildas head coach Alen Stajcic has named a 20-player squad for a one off international against Korea Republic in what is set to be the squad’s final official hit out before February’s all-important Olympic qualifying tournament.

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With limited opportunities to test themselves against quality international opposition before the qualifiers in Japan, the match against Korea Republic in Incheon on  29 November will provide the Matildas with some crucial match practise ahead of an extremely difficult Olympic qualifying campaign.

The squad that will head to Incheon comprises six players with less than ten Matildas appearances, while there are six that have played over 50 ‘A’ internationals.

German based duo Emily van Egmond and Elise Kellond-Knight, who has been shortlisted for the 2015 AFC Women’s Player of the Year, will join up with the squad in Incheon.

Perth Glory forward Samantha Kerr is one player who will be missing from the team after she suffered a foot injury in the Westfield W-League last weekend.

Kerr’s absence opens up a spot for 20 year old midfielder Chloe Logarzo who has been rewarded for her impressive form for the Newcastle Jets in the W-League this season.

“Our recent trip to China for matches against England and China showed we have a lot of work to do before February and we need to make the most of this chance to get the squad together and play against a nation that will also be fighting it out for one of the two Olympic spots,” Stajcic said.

“A number of the girls have been doing well in the W-League this season but it all goes up to another level when you play internationals so this trip will give us an indication of how we are tracking with our preparations and also find out which players really want to push their claims to be part of the Olympic qualifiers.”

“We need to keep building and developing more depth in the squad to make sure we’ve got healthy competition for places which in turn will push players to keep getting better and not rest on their laurels.”

The Australian based players will depart for Incheon on Tuesday and return home on 1 December. The match against Korea Republic on 29 November kicks off at 4.15pm AEDT.

Westfield Matildas squad 

Name	Date of Birth	Position	Club	A International Caps (Goals)
Laura Alleway	28/11/1989	Defender	Melbourne City FC	38 (2)
Tara Andrews	13/03/1994	Forward	Newcastle Jets	1 (0)
Mackenzie Arnold (gk)	25/02/1994	Goalkeeper	Perth Glory	7 (0)
Tameka Butt	16/06/1991	Midfielder	Brisbane Roar	51 (7)
Stephanie Catley	26/01/1994	Defender	Melbourne City FC	41 (2)
Larissa Crummer	10/01/1996	Forward	Melbourne City FC	8 (1)
Lisa De Vanna	14/11/1984	Forward	Melbourne City FC	105 (37)
Caitlin Foord	11/11/1994	Forward	Perth Glory	37 (5)
Katrina Gorry	13/08/1992	Midfielder	Brisbane Roar	37 (11)
Amy Harrison	21/04/1996	Midfielder	Sydney FC	2 (0)
Michelle Heyman	4/07/1988	Forward	Canberra United	41 (15)
Elise Kellond-Knight	10/08/1990	Midfielder	Potsdam FC (Germany)	64 (1)
Alanna Kennedy	21/01/1995	Midfielder	Sydney FC	36 (0)
Chloe Logarzo	22/12/1994	Midfielder	Newcastle Jets	2 (0)
Caitlin Munoz	4/10/1983	Forward	Canberra United	56 (13)
Clare Polkinghorne	1/02/1989	Defender	Brisbane Roar	80 (5)
Kyah Simon	25/06/1991	Forward	Sydney FC	57 (14)
Emily van Egmond	12/07/1993	Midfielder	FFC Frankfurt (Germany)	46 (11)
Lydia Williams (gk)	13/05/1988	Goalkeeper	Canberra United	48 (0)
Georgia Yeoman-Dale	24/02/1994	Midfielder	Newcastle Jets	4 (0)