31/5/23
Above: The Junior Matildas, who will be off to Korea Republic next week. Photo: Football Australia.
The Junior Matildas will continue their preparations for the 2024 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Round Two Qualifiers with a two-match international series against Korea Republic.
The U-17 Australian Women’s National Team will travel to Paju, north of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province for a match on Tuesday 6th June before backing up three days later. Both international friendlies will be played at the Korea Football Association’s National Football Centre.
Head Coach Rae Dower said this was yet another example of the strong cooperation between the two nations in women’s football with Australia hosting Korea Republic in October 2022.
“Korea Republic are one of the strongest nations in this age group and we are looking forward to challenging ourselves against one of the best in Asia in this series,” Dower said.
“We want to build on the partnership established with Korea Republic, continuing to work together annually to present development opportunities for these players.”
A 22-strong roster for the two-match series has been selected with a majority of the squad featuring in the recent camp at the Australian Institute of Sport earlier this month.
Dower said it was a chance to see how the hard work put in by the players and staff continues to translate.
“These types of matches are vital to continue to build cohesion as a national team. There will be some debutants amongst the group, whilst the bulk has been together now since October. On the back of increased investment and several camps together over the past six months, we aim to maximise the periods when we do come together,” Dower added.
“This series will give us a chance to try some different combinations, present first-time opportunities to new players and to see how the players individually and collectively as a team deal with the travel and complexities of playing in Asia.”
Australia have been drawn into Group B, alongside Bangladesh, Vietnam, and the Philippines for the 2024 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Round Two taking place between 16th and 24th September 2023.
The top two sides from each group will join host nation to join Indonesia, Japan, DPR Korea, and China in the Finals.
Junior Matildas squad for series with Korea Republic:
| Ischia | BROOKING | Midfielder | Football West |
| Ruby | CUTHBERT | Defender | Football West |
| Sienna | DALE | Forward | Manly United / Football NSW |
| Sian | DEWEY | Midfielder | FSA NTC / Football South Australia |
| Mikayla | DUONG | Midfielder | FNSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Sofia | FANTE | Goalkeeper | FNSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Tiana | FULLER | Forward | FNSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Mia | GOLDING | Defender | FNSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Georgia | GROIDIS | Forward | FV Emerging NTC / Football Victoria |
| Isabela | HOYOS | Defender | QAS-FQ Academy / Football Queensland |
| Christina | KICEEC | Defender | FNSW Institute / Football NSW |
| Grace | KUILAMU | Forward | QAS-FQ Academy / Football Queensland |
| Kiera | MEYERS | Midfielder | FV Emerging NTC / Football Victoria |
| Poppy | O’KEEFFE | Midfielder | FV Emerging NTC / Football Victoria |
| Chloe | PARKER | Defender | QAS-FQ Academy / Football Queensland |
| Lily | PUNCH | Forward | QAS-FQ Academy / Football Queensland |
| Georgia | RITCHIE | Goalkeeper | Canberra United Academy / Capital Football |
| Jessica | SKINNER | Goalkeeper | Football West |
| Amelia | TARTAGLIA | Defender | FV Emerging NTC / Football Victoria |
| Shayla | WILLIAMS | Forward | QAS-FQ Academy / Football Queensland |
| Annabelle | YATES | Defender | FV Emerging NTC / Football Victoria |
| Talia | YOUNIS | Midfielder | Western Sydney Wanderers / Football NSW |
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