Stajcic looking to get a lot from two Korea games

Westfield Young Matildas coach Alen Stajcic is looking to get a lot out of the two friendly games against Korea Republic on Saturday and Monday, so the squad is at its best come the start of the AFC U19 Women’s Championship on August 1.

Westfield Young Matildas coach Alen Stajcic is looking to get a lot out of the two friendly games against Korea Republic on Saturday and Monday, so the squad is at its best come the start of the AFC U19 Women-s Championship on August 1.

Stajcic has taken the 23-player squad on a pre-tournament camp to Korea, where not only will they get two valuable warm up games, but get more acclimatised to the conditions they will likely face in Wuhan, China, where the AFC Championships will be held.

Australia is placed in a difficult group in what doubles as the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA U20 Women-s World Cup in Germany, with Japan and China, plus Chinese Taipei battling for the two spots through to the semi finals. Only three teams will qualify for the finals in Germany.

Stajcic will use the two matches to prime his squad and is likely to give all players some game time.

“There are a lot of different reasons we got the two games (against Korea),” Stajcic said when asked what he was wanting to get most out of the two games.

“One was to give everyone a game before we hit Japan and see who is in form.

“Obviously to play in a hot climate again is important, as Korea will be fairly close to the Chinese conditions.

“It will also give the girls two extra internationals, playing against a very good South Korean team. We watched them in the qualifiers and they were outstanding.

“So there is 3-4 different really important reasons why we are playing the games and hopefully we learn a lot from them and prepare even better for the first game (against Japan).

The Westfield Young Matildas play Korea at the KFA Training Centre in Seoul on Saturday and Monday, before heading across to Wuhan.

Their first game of the AFC Championships is against Japan on Saturday August 1, followed by China two days later with the final game against Chinese Taipei on Wednesday August 5.