Westfield Matildas to play New Zealand in Friendly
Football Federation Australia today announced the Westfield Matildas will play cross Tasman rivals, New Zealand national team the Football Ferns, in a two match series in Gosford next month.
Football Federation Australia today announced the Westfield Matildas will play cross Tasman rivals, New Zealand national team the Football Ferns, in a two match series in Gosford next month.
The matches, scheduled for May 12 and 15 at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford, will be the Westfield Matildas last matches on Australian soil before heading to Germany for the FIFA Women-s World Cup 2011™ on June 14.
The Westfield Matildas last played the Football Ferns in a two-match series in February 2010 where they defeated the New Zealand team 3-nil on both occasions.
The Football Ferns are ranked 24 in the world, with the Westfield Matildas sitting in 11th place behind England and Norway in the rankings released on March 18 2011.
Westfield Matildas Head Coach Tom Sermanni has a tough time ahead of him in the months leading up to the FIFA Women-s World Cup 2011™ having to reduce his 34-player squad to 21 for Germany.
“Following our four camps at the Australian Institute of Sport I-ve had a good look at the group of players and it is going to be incredibly difficult to cut this squad down,” said Sermanni.
“The work rate and intensity in the sessions has been incredible and all 34 players have put a strong case forward for selection.”
With the squad set to be cut down to around 26-27 players at the end of this week the remaining players will go into the New Zealand matches knowing that selection for Germany is within their grasp.
“These matches will provide the ideal opportunity to assess where we-re at against a quality opposition and give the coaching staff more to think about before we have to select our 21-player list to send to FIFA,” continued Sermanni.
“We-ve got a very dynamic and youthful squad so competition has been fierce and I-m certain these games will be fantastic as both squads (Australia and New Zealand) prepare for the World Cup.”
The Westfield Matildas go into camp in Gosford on May 9 before playing a closed door match on May 12 and a second match on May 15 that will be broadcast live and exclusive on ABC1 from 3.00pm AEST.
Tickets for the May 15 match at Bluetongue Stadium will go on sale on Friday, April 29 - tickets available through Ticketek.
Westfield Matildas v New Zealand Sunday 15 May 2011 Local kick-off: 3.00pm Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Ticket Prices $10 - Adults $ 5 - Child/Concession $20 - Family (additional $2 booking fee for tickets purchased at the gate on match day)