Qantas Young Matildas At Full Strength
Qantas Young Matildas coach Alistair Edwards is taking no chances by naming a full strength side for its opening match of the AFC Under 19 Championship against China, being held in Malaysia.
Edwards has rushed US-based Leah Blayney straight into the side for Sunday evening's match, in what is the crucial match of the Preliminary Rounds. Blayney took no part in the qualifiers in March and her experience will be invaluable to the squad.
The starting line-up is: Lydia Williams (gk); Kim Carroll, Danielle Brogan, Olivia Kennedy, Kylie Ledbrook, Collette McCallum, Leah Blayney, Sally Shipard (c), Sasha McDonnell, Leena Khamis
“The game against China is going to be the most difficult of our group games,” said Edwards from Malaysia. “They were runners-up at the last World Youth Cup and two weeks ago beat Russia 2-0 and 1-0, who are the current European Champions.”
Edwards has a side blessed with six players that have represented at the senior level, but despite this they go into its first AFC tournament as outsiders. Three teams will win advance to the FIFA Women-s Under 20 Women-s Championship in Russia later this year.
“We are looked upon as underdogs not only in this game but in the tournament overall. South Korea, Japan, North Korea and China are all powerhouses in Asian Football and they all have high expectations of qualifying, the problem for us all is that only three can qualify and that means that two high quality teams are going to miss out.”
A former Qantas Socceroo, Edwards is also thankful that the majority of his players have recovered after an illness went through the camp. “We had a bit of a scare during our preparation camp in Canberra with a stomach virus going through the squad, but everyone seems to be over that now and raring to go.”
Sunday-s match kicks off 7.30pm AEST, with Australia-s other matches being against host nation Malaysia (April 11) and Jordan (April 13). Click here for more information.