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Thursday 7 June 2007

Sally Shipard says, "This is the Matilda's biggest game for years."


Sally Shipard is preparing for Sunday's crucial Olympic qualifier against DPR Korea in Coffs Harbour.

Football in the Capital caught up with Sally after training today.

"Well, obviously we are all disappointed with the 2-0 loss to Korea last week, but we are really focused on getting a good result on Sunday."

How was Korea?

"We'd heard a lot about it. We'd taken so much food for snacks and things because some of the girls who'd been before said the food was poor. But, it was fine, so we had all this food left over."

"We stayed in a secluded hotel away from the city. We got to go for walks and stuff. People were initially very private, but by the end everyone was very friendly."

"The people pay respect to leader Kim Lee Sung. They lay flowers at his statue. So the Matilda's went to visit the statue, we had to bow. We went to see what the locals do each day. Tommy (Coach) was in his thongs so wasn't allowed off the coach!"

The game was tough. I haven't played for the Matildas for eleven months. My hammies are a bit tight but I got through okay. It was a close game, we had our opportunities and their second goal was judged a handball which shouldn't have been given."

"The stadium held 25,000, but there were 40,000 men, women and children crammed in."

"We were disappointed after the game, but Cheryl (Captain Cheryl Salisbury) got us together immediately after the final whistle. She told us to forget the game, and really start to focus on Sunday's big game. I think that helped, and now we are really looking forward to the game."

"I think we'll get a good crowd. We had 2,000 against Hong Kong in Coffs when we beat then
12-0, but this is much bigger. We had a TV crew meet us off the plane, the game is live on TV and this really is a massive game."

"This is the Matilda's biggest game for years."

"We need to win. We have a lot of friends and family coming from around the country. Its going to be huge."

Thanks Sally, and good luck.

If you can't get to the game, you can see the biggest Matilda's game for years live on SBS at 3pm.

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