Roar players in Matildas squad for NZ Tour

Westfield Matildas Head Coach Alen Stajcic has named a 24-player squad – including seven Brisbane Roar players – for next week’s internationals against New Zealand and DPR Korea in Auckland.

In what will be the Westfield Matildas’ first matches since the team finished runners up at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in May last year, the squad for this upcoming international tri series features Roar players Kim Carroll, Larissa Crummer, Katrina Gorry, Elise Kellond-Knight, Aivi Luik, Clare Polkinghorne and Hayley Raso.

Seen as an important part of the Westfield Matildas’ preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada, Stajcic believes the chance to face a DPR Korea side that is currently ranked 7 ^th  in the FIFA world rankings as well as the 18 ^th  ranked Football Ferns will provide a fitting gauge to the progress made in the past month.

“We’ve had three camps and the team has progressed really well on and off the field,” said Stajcic.

“Obviously it will be a big test to jump straight back into international football after that little period, especially DPR Korea who are one of the best teams in the world, but we think we’re tracking well and this will be a good challenge for us.”

“We’ve been working on styles of play and team structures so while the results are important, at the moment we’re more focused on implementing our style of play and what we want to achieve at the World Cup, so this is just the first building block on the way to the World Cup and making sure we’re perfecting it come June.”

The squad will depart from Sydney on Saturday 7 February ahead of its first match against DPR Korea on Tuesday 10 February.

Westfield Matildas Squad for International Tri Series

Women’s International Tri Series  

8-12 February 2015

Bill McKinlay Park, Auckland