Group D Preview: Australia

Australia (#11)
Region: AFC
Coach: Tom Sermanni
How They Qualified: Won the Asian Cup in May, 2010.
Prior Cups:
2007: Lost in Quarterfinals
2003: Group Stage
1999: Group Stage
1995: Group Stage
1991: DNQ
Returnees from 2007 WWC: (8) Barbieri, Williams, Colthorpe, Garriock, McCallum, Polkinghorne, Shipard, De Vanna.

Roster (Average Age: 22.39)

Name	Pos	Club	Age	Caps/Goals
Melissa Barbieri	GK	Melbourne Victory	31	76/0
Casey Dumont	GK	Brisbane Roar	19	0/0
Lydia Williams	GK	Canberra Utd.	23	25/0
Teigen Allen	DF	Sydney FC	17	8/0
Laura Alleway	DF	Brisbane Roar	21	2/0
Kim Carroll	DF	Brisbane Roar	23	39/2
Elise Kellond-Knight	DF	Brisbane Roar	20	20/0
Ellyse Perry	DF	Canberra Utd.	20	13/2
Servet Uzunlar	DF	Sydney FC	22	21/1
Tameka Butt	MF	Brisbane Roar	20	20/1
Lauren Colthorpe	MF	Brisbane Roar	25	50/7
Heather Garriock	MF	LdB FC Malmo	28	120/21
Collette McCallum	MF	Perth Glory	25	63/9
Clare Polkinghorne	MF	Brisbane Roar	22	44/2
Sally Shipard	MF	Canberra Utd.	23	53/4
Emily Van Egmond	MF	Canberra Utd.	17	4/0
Lisa De Vanna	FW	magicJack	26	66/24
Caitlin Foord	FW	Sydney FC	16	1/1
Samantha Kerr	FW	Perth Glory	17	14/3
Leena Khamis	FW	Sydney FC	25	17/4
Kyah Simon	FW	Sydney FC	20	25/5

Recent Matches:

Date	Opponent	Competition	Result
6/23/11	England	Friendly	W 2-0
6/20/11	Mexico	Friendly	W 3-2
5/15/11	New Zealand	Friendly	W 2-1
5/12/11	New Zealand	Friendly	W 3-0
10/28/10	Germany	Friendly	L 1-2
10/23/10	Korea Republic	Peace Cup	L 1-2
10/19/10	Chinese Taipei	Peace Cup	W 1-0
10/17/10	Mexico	Peace Cup	W 3-1
5/30/10	Korea DPR	Asian Cup	W 1-1 (5-4pk)
5/27/10	Japan	Asian Cup	W 1-0
5/23/10	China	Asian Cup	L 0-1
5/21/10	Korea Republic	Asian Cup	W 3-1
5/19/10	Vietnam	Asian Cup	W 2-0

Australia made it as far as the semifinals in 2007, before losing to Brazil 3-2. They return only eight players from that team and this year’s team is a fairly young squad with an average age of just over 22. This will be their fifth World Cup.

Australia qualified by winning a very tough and very competitive Asian Cup, featuring a strong AFC field that included Korea DPR, Japan, China, and the Korea Republic. They won the championship game of that tournament in penalty kicks over Korea DPR, in spite of missing top scorer Lisa De Vanna, who broke her leg earlier in that competition.

Since then, they have competed in the Peace Cup, winning their first two matches over Mexico and Taipei, before a disappointing loss to the Korea Republic. They then suffered a narrow loss to Germany 2-1, becoming one of the few teams that have played the Germans that closely. Their schedule for 2011 has been light to this point, with only four friendlies being played, two against neighboring New Zealand and matches this past week against Mexico and England. Australia won all four.

But perhaps the biggest news for Australia did not occur at one of their matches, but in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, where Kate Gill suffered a torn ACL in a late April match for Linkopings. Injuries are certainly a part of soccer, but this was surely one of the harshest blows dealt to any team. Gill is the current AFC Women’s Player of the Year and a leader on the Australian team. She will be missed at this year’s World Cup.

While Australia will miss Gill’s leadership and presence, the Matildas are deep at forward and as a group, they may be able to somewhat compensate for her absence. Australia has several talented young forwards including Kyah Simon, Samantha Kerr, and 16-year old Caitlin Ford who recently scored in her debut against New Zealand. They also have Leena Khamis, another dependable forward who has played exceedingly well in the Australian W-League.

Then there is Lisa De Vanna, who has scored 24 career goals for the Matildas and plays for magicJack in the WPS. While it sometimes appears that De Vanna marches to the beat of a different drummer, there can be no doubting her ability on the pitch. She is one of the fastest, most dangerous forwards in the world. She scored four goals in just four matches in the 2007 World Cup, including a late game-tying goal against Norway in the group stage.

Australia features a very experienced midfield with veterans Heather Garriock, Collette McCallum, and Lauren Colthorpe. Garriock has over 120 caps for the Matildas and has played in the last two World Cups. McCallum is a consistent player, who usually sets up her teammates, but can score as well. She recently scored twice in a friendly against England.

The defense is very young, with the oldest player being 23-year old Kim Carroll. Carroll is a steady defender and can be counted on to lead the back line. Other mainstays on the back line include Servet Uzunlar and Elise Kellond-Knight.

Melissa Barbieri, the senior member of the Matildas, is their number one goalkeeper and has been for many years. Her experience should help calm the youthful defense in front of her. She gave up just two goals in her three starts at the Asian Cup. Lydia Williams is a dependable backup and the Matilda’s starter of the future.

The Aussies will need fortitude entering this tournament without Gill. They recently showed their composure after falling behind 2-0 against Mexico and coming back for a 3-2 victory. They will face two tough, veteran teams in Brazil and Norway, plus Equatorial Guinea in the group stage. It will be interesting to see if they can advance to the quarterfinals.

Note: Some information for this article was obtained from www.fifa.com, www.the-afc.com, and www.footballaustralia.com.au.

WPS Midweek Notes-May 13th

The Australian Connection

The dynamic Aussie duo of Collette McCallum and Sarah Walsh connected for Sky Blue's first goal of the match on Sunday night in Chicago. McCallum sent a brilliant pass through to Walsh, who split the defense and sent the ball into the lower corner of the net, beating Caroline Jonsson in the 8th minute of the match. The goal gave Sky Blue their first lead of the season and turned out to be the team's first game-winning goal in its history.

The Matildas have made their presence felt in the WPS. Just a week earlier, Lisa DeVanna of the Washington Freedom scored on a header against Saint Louis. Two other Australian nationals, Heather Garriock and Lydia Williams play for the Chicago Red Stars. Unfortunately, Garriock has been plagued by injuries and has seen just 9 minutes of action. Williams, who celebrates her 21st birthday today, is stuck on the depth chart behind Jonsson, who is arguably one of the hottest keepers in the league to this point. Williams is the youngest keeper in the league. Happy 21st to Lydia!

Bye for Washington Means Bye Bye Goals

In last week's WPS action, only 3 goals were scored in 3 games. This is the lowest offensive output for any week so far, except for the first week when only one match was played. It's not surprising given the Washington Freedom had a bye week. 21 of the 43 goals scored thus far have been scored in games involving Washington. The Freedom lead the league in both goals scored and most goals allowed. They have scored 9, while allowing 12 in five games. This week, Washington travels to Boston where it will face WPS leading scorer, Kelly Smith. In the previous meeting between the two teams, Boston won 3-1.

Call Ups May Give Backups a Shot

The US Women's National Team will face Canada on May 25th, a game that replaces the friendlies that were scheduled by both teams against Japan. This means that several WPS backup goalies may see their first action of the year. The most likely candidates would be Jillian Loyden of Saint Louis, Allison Whitworth of FC Gold Pride, and Val Henderson of Los Angeles.

Loyden, a Villanova graduate, backs up Hope Solo for Athletica. Saint Louis is scheduled to play a Saturday night match in Chicago on May 23rd. Whitworth (Auburn) backs up Nicole Barnhart for Gold Pride and Henderson (UCLA) backs up Karina LeBlanc for the Sol. Those teams are set to face off against each other on the afternoon of May 24th in Santa Clara, California.

Rare Yellow Cards for Weber

If my research is accurate, Athletica defender Elise Weber did not receive a yellow card in her two seasons with Notre Dame. The last one she had received was when she wore the Cardinal and White of the University of Wisconsin in 2006. Weber has now received a yellow card in consecutive WPS games, both times for stalling and failure to complete a throw-in quickly enough, kind of an unusual way to accumulate yellows.

Card Accumulation

Speaking of yellow cards, Julianne Sitch of Sky Blue FC became the first WPS player to accumulate 3 yellow cards for the season. A 4th yellow card will mean a suspension, per league rules. However, if a player plays four consecutive games without a yellow, the accumulation for that player is reset to zero. The aforementioned Weber is also in danger of a suspension. League rules stipulate that yellow cards in 3 consecutive games also warrant a suspension. So far, the only players that have been suspended have been Frida Ostberg (for two yellows in one game) and Abby Wambach and Kia McNeill (by Commissioner Antonucci for plays in the Washington-Saint Louis match).