Matildas fighting to get on the plane to North Korea.

Matildas Coach Tom Sermanni has 28 players in Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra this weekend. It’s the final camp before the squad flies out for the crucial Olympic qualifier against North Korea on June 3rd.

“I should know the eighteen players who will be going by Monday. We’re only allowed to take 18 as part of the Olympic rules. I need sixteen players because I never count the goalkeepers in the numbers!”

“We’ve been working on defensive patterns expecting North Korea to have the lion share of possession. We haven’t faced this sort of game for some time.”

“We play the ACT Academy squad this evening at 5pm and then we have two more training days. We’ll probably have a couple of sessions on Sunday including an inter-squad game.”

“We’ll fly into China on Saturday 28th of May. We’ll play China in an unofficial friendly behind closed doors, then fly to Korea on the Saturday and out on the Tuesday.”

“There are limited flights in and out of North Korea so we’ve made the best plans we can given the circumstances.”

“The squad is in good shape. Sally Shipard is improving and should be training normally by Sunday. Caitlin Munoz is coming along.”

“This squad have been together for so long that although the camps are weeks apart, the team are able to pick-up new concepts pretty quickly. You don’t have to start from scratch each time so the camps are working well.”

The Matildas play two crucial games against North Korea. Away in Korea on June 3rd,and at Coffs Harbour International Stadium on June 10th.
Both teams are on equal points and these games should decide who goes to the Olympics in Beijing next year.