Westfield Young Matildas squad named for tour

Head Coach of the Women's U-20 football team (the Westfield Young Matildas), Alen Stajcic, has selected a 20 player squad to travel to Italy and Indonesia for a series of friendly matches from 23 May to 6 June, as preparation for participation in the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) U-19 Women's Championships in August.

Head Coach of the Women's U-20 football team (the Westfield Young Matildas), Alen Stajcic, has selected a 20 player squad to travel to Italy and Indonesia for a series of friendly matches from 23 May to 6 June, as preparation for participation in the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) U-19 Women's Championships in August.

The tour is possible due to the generous support of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

An extended squad of 23 players will prepare at a three day pre-departure camp at Valentine Sports Park, Glenwood (Sydney), from 16 May. The final 20 member squad will depart Sydney on 19 May and be based at the AIS hub in Varese, Italy, where they will play a series of friendlies against Finland and Germany .

The Westfield Young Matildas will meet Indonesia in Bangkok en route home to Australia on 6 June .

"The tour is a wonderful opportunity to continue our preparations for the AFC U-19 Women's Championships," said Stajcic.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our young players to travel to Europe and play against highly regarded football countries such as Finland and Germany.

"We are very fortunate to have been given this chance and it will most certainly be used as a positive and fantastic experience for the players involved," concluded Stajcic.

The AFC U-19 Women's Championships 2009 will be held in Wuhan, China from 1 -12 August. The Championships also double as the qualification process for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup to be held in Germany next year.

Westfield Young Matildas - Match schedule - International Friendlies

Saturday 23 May 2009 Westfield Young Matildas v Finland Varese, Italy kick-off 1pm local time (9pm AEST)

Monday 25 May 2009 Westfield Young Matildas v Finland Varese, Italy kick-off 1pm local time (9pm AEST)

Wednesday 27 May 2009 Westfield Young Matildas v Germany Varese, Italy kick-off 3pm local time (11pm AEST)

Saturday 6 June 2009 Westfield Young Matildas v Thailand Bangkok, Thailand kick-off 11am local time (2pm AEST)

Westfield Young Matildas squad Pre-tour camp 16-19 May 2009 Valentine Sports Park, Glenwood, NSW

Teigen Allen - NSWIS Courtney Beutel - Queensland Roar Ruth Blackburn* - Queensland Roar Nicola Bolger - Sydney FC Tameka Butt - Queensland Roar Alesha Clifford - Sydney FC Casey Dumont - Queensland Roar Angela Fimmano - Adelaide United Elise Kellond-Knight - Queensland Roar Samantha Kerr - Perth Glory Rebecca Kiting* - Canberra United Ella Mastrantonio - Perth Glory Sian McLaren - Adelaide United Linda O'Neill - Sydney FC Teresa Polias - Central Coast Mariners Karina Roweth - Central Coast Mariners Jessica Seaman - Sydney FC Kyah Simon - Central Coast Mariners Bronwyn Studman - Canberra United Ashleigh Sykes - Canberra United Nicole Sykes - Canberra United Marianna Tabain - Perth Glory Emily van Egmond* - Newcastle Jets

*Player training with squad for Australia camp only - not travelling.