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Thursday 5 June 2008

Shock Matildas team for Asian Cup Semi

Coach Tom Sermanni has radically changed the Australian team for tonight's Asian Cup Semi Final with competition favourites North Korea in Vietnam.

As the Matildas attempt to become the first Australian team to win a competition in Asia, Sermanni has stunned Matilda supporters with his team selection.

Out go World Cup stars Melissa Barbieri, Collette McCallum, and Kate Gill.

The Canberra trio of Lydia Williams, Amy Chapman and Caitlin Munoz will all start.

Team is:

Keeper: Lydia Williams

Back Four: Ellyse Perry, Kate McShea, Clare Polkinghorne, Di Alagich
Mids: Amy Chapman, Lauren Colethorpe, Amber Neilson, Heather Garriock
Forwards: Caitlin Munoz, Lisa De Vanna

Kick-off is 7pm AEST. Result here around 9.05pm!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Eamonn. How is it you can find these things out? There is nothing anywhere.

What do you think of the changes? All a bit nerve wracking I think.

Eamonn said...

Think Tom Sermanni is struggling with the loss of five starters from World Cup sqaud who wouldn't be.

Walsh, Salisbury, Burgess, Peters and Shipard.

Reckon the pace to these players protected McCallum a bit and allowed her to play rather than chase and hassle players...not her strength.

So he saw the defeat re:Japan and would be very concerned about facing Korea.

That said with so many World Cup stars not here, a semi-final spot was always the best we could hope for.

Not sure Colthorpe is a midfielder when everyone is available but she has done a good job.

Reckon we're a bit young, a few too many new faces to take on Korea, and the loss of Sarah Walsh has hit the team very hard on top of the others I mentioned.

Still a top four finish in Asia is (next time) what you need to get to the World Cup.

So to that end this team is building, you could say we are in transition. And the World Cup was our best ever performance.

do we have the depth to replace the Walsh's Salisbury's and the Jo's..time will tell.
With more girls playing we should, unfortunately the rest of the world is getting better...fast.

Can Amy Chapman get a goal tonight. De Vanna needs to score. Will Korea score early? Can we keep Korea scoreless.

The longer the game goes without a goal, the better our chance, but it'll be hard chasing in the heat.

Needs the game of these young girls life...and you never know

Korea train and live football in camp 24/7.

Anonymous said...

Salisbury Peters and Shipard were never fast.

The squad has actually done ok without Peters and Shipard. Just beat Canda and Korea in the last 2 weeks and did ok against USA.

Walsh is a big loss but Munoz has a lot to offer. Do not devalue what this squad has achieved already in the absence of 'the stars'.

OK tonight might be a big ask for the new faces but remember even the team full of stars couldn't beat North Korea (see both results in 2007).

No matter what happens the future is looking good. We have already got a top 4 finish.

Eamonn said...

I disagree, Shipard and Peters may not be fast a la De Vanna, but in the positions they played, they are able to get around the park and Shipard was able to cover a hell of a lot of ground.

Importantly they were able to add something to the forward line by getting forward to support. That said the heat may have tested them in Vietnam

A top four finish is all we could have hoped for, I agree, and North Korea, are some way ahead of us if the last two games are anything to go by.

Be interesting to get Sermanni's thought once the tournament is over.

And you're right the squad has done well over the last few weeks, losing Walsh a big blow, and probably the manner and size of the Japanese defeat a bit of a stunner.

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised that Gill is dropped, she's tall and fast but from what I've seen as a football player she is average. I also think when shes at the front it encourages the long ball.

Barbieri and Williams for me are neck and neck, I don't think Barbieri is the undisputed no. 1 anymore. With more experience Williams will be the much better keeper.

McCallum's dropping is a surprise but if the defenders continue to play the long ball out from the back then there is not much point in her being there.

Eamonn said...

Think you are right re:Goalies, alhough I thought Lydia was a little shaky in that first game.

McCallum, I was surprised to see her dropped, but expect tonight the team are defending as we speak, so maybe Collete will come on after half-time when the pace is slower....if we are still in the game, she could be the game breaker.