Controversial striker Lisa De Vanna has earned selection in Australia’s 21-player squad for this month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. De Vanna seemed set to miss out on a spot after being booted out of a Matildas training camp in Gosford in May for disciplinary reasons. Ellyse Perry also makes the side as a dual-international, also playing cricket for the Southern Stars.
But coach Tom Sermanni said the 26-year-old had performed well during a Gold Coast training camp and will join the squad on June 14 to travel to Germany.
“This has been one of the toughest selection processes I have ever had to go through and there were a lot of variables the coaching staff had to weigh up before selecting this final 21-player list,” Sermanni said.
“The camps have been incredibly competitive and players have emerged during this process that were not even on my list when we won the AFC Women’s Asian Cup last year.”
The Matildas play two warm-up matches against Mexico and England prior to their World Cup opener against Brazil on June 29 (June 30 AM AEST).
Their other group matches are against Equatorial Guinea and Norway.
Matildas World Cup squad: Teigen Allen, Laura Alleway, Melissa Barbieri (capt), Tameka Butt, Kim Carroll, Lauren Colthorpe, Lisa De Vanna, Casey Dumont, Caitlin Foord, Heather Garriock, Elise Kellond-Knight, Samantha Kerr, Leena Khamis, Collette McCallum, Ellyse Perry, Clare Polkinghorne, Sally Shipard, Kyah Simon, Servet Uzunlar, Emily van Egmond, Lydia Williams.
PeterK
Guest
I've been so pleased to see the progress of the Matildas over the last bunch of years. They play well, and (generally) they play fairly. And it's so easy to follow them because they are on Free-to-Air TV. I don't have and I don't plan to ever have Pay-TV. I understand that SBS is telecasting every Matildas World Cup match live. Sounds outstanding to me. Go girls -- and as Ellyse says: "Enjoy it!"
buck
Guest
This is a good squad. its solid in most areas [if a little green] and some good attacking options - De Vanna obviously, but Tameka Butt from the Roar is also very energetic, and Kyah Simon is always fun to watch. Shame about Kate Gill's injury. I look forward to the games later in the month and think we can give it a bit of a shake. Go girls!