News

Matildas through to world cup (July 27)
The Qantas-backed Matildas national soccer/football team has emulated the efforts of the socceroos by making it through to the 2007 FIFA World Cup, after winning the Women’s Asian Cup against Japan today.
The 2-0 score happened at the Hindmarsh stadium in Adelaide, ensuring the team is one of the two Asia region representative teams for next year’s main event in China.
Today’s win also puts the team in the final of the current Asian match, and they will face either Korea or China, who play tonight.
Pic: Football Australia – click to visit the site.

Women’s world cup to start soon (July 7)
From UEFA : Barely two days after the FIFA World Cup is done and dusted in Germany, over the border in Switzerland the next international tournament gets under way. The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship may be on a slightly more modest scale than the global male event, but female football is booming right now and the number of young players making their way at the top level is proof that the junior tournament, less than a decade old, is coming of age. (Picture: Last year’s winning team, Russia, celebrates.
Full preview from UEFA

Matildas defeat Mexico (May 26)
The Qantas-backed Matildas football (soccer) team defeated Mexico at the MCG last night, in a ‘friendly’, with the final score of 2-1.
Monica Ocampo from mmexico opned the scoring with a goal in just the 13th minute while the Australian side, ranked 15th in the world, seemed to take a long time to get up to speed.
However the Matildas came good in the second half of the match, with Kate Gill and Cheryl Salisbury each scoring a goal.
Football Australia

FIFA concerned for women’s soccer (Mar 10)
After visiting Swaziland to assess the progress of women’s soccer, representatives from the International Football Association (FIFA) have announced their concern for the future of the sport in the small African country.
FIFA development officer, Ashford Mamelodi, said he was especially concerned that the local women’s association was not receiving the necessary support from the National Football Association (FA).
CEO, Frederick Mngomezulu, defended the FA saying that its lack of support from FIFA is what caused the problems regarding the sport’s progress.
“Women’s football, especially in the southern region, is not fully supported by the mother body (FIFA),” he said, “which contributes to the slow development of the sport.”
Mngomezulu explained that Mamelodi’s visit was meant to monitor the usage of a FIFA grant given to the Women’s Football Association to assist in improving the sport. He said that if the final report was positive it would place the country in a good position to get more funding from the FIFA grant in the future.
By Katrina Putker
FIFA Women's site

Matildas & China draw (Dec 3)
From Football Australia: The Qantas Matildas have concluded their series against China with a scoreless draw at Aussie Stadium in Sydney tonight. The Australians however dominated large parts of the second half, striking the frame of the goal on three occasions, but they were unable to make the breakthrough. The first half was largely uneventful with neither side able to take control however Jo Peters struck the outside of the post with a chipped shot mid-way through the half.
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Matildas Match It With Heavyweights USA (Oct 20)
The Qantas Matildas have, for the first time in 17 encounters between the two, kept the USA scoreless in their 0-0 drawn tour match in Fullarton, California on Monday.
The Matildas have now drawn their last two matches against last years Olympic gold medallists after having lost all 15 previous meetings.
It is also the first time that the USA, ranked second in the world, have been kept scoreless in their past 40 international matches, and brought to an end their eight-game winning streak.
Australian Coach Tom Sermanni was pleased with his team's defensive skills and proud of the final result.
”We limited the USA to just a few good chances in the entire match which is testament to some terrific defending on our part but at the same time we also looked comfortable when we had possession,” Sermanni said after the match.
The match was the first of three to be played by the Matildas in the US, as preparation for their World Cup qualifying tournament in 2006, and on current form the Matildas will be confident of a smooth passage into the 2007 World Cup.
They will today take on Mexico at El Paso Patriots Stadium, Texas and then head back to California to play the Sacramento Storm at the Home Depot Centre on Sunday.
By Sam Ryan
Soccer Australia website

Matildas keep China to nil-all draw (Nov 28)
The Qantas Matildas have again impressed against a quality international opponent, drawing their match against ninth-ranked China 0-0 in Gosford on Friday. The Matildas' defence have not conceded a goal in their past four matches, as they prepare for World Cup qualifying matches in July next year.
For a brief moment the crowd celebrated what seemed to be the breakthrough for Australia when striker Kate Gill sent the ball into the back of the net with 20 minutes left in the game. But the goal was disallowed, with Gill deemed to have been offside.
Coach Tom Sermanni was pleased with the effort, and his teams continued competitiveness against top quality opposition. “The fact that players were able to come on and make an impression shows we are developing good depth in the squad, “ he said after the match.
The two teams will play a second international match this Saturday night as a curtain raiser to the A-League contest between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory at Aussie Stadium in Sydney. China will also play a practice match against the Qantas young Matildas on Thursday 1 December, in Mingara.
By Sam Ryan
Football Australia website

Pakistani women's finals a riot (Oct 16)
Pakistan's first ever women's championship soccer tournament final resulted in a catfight between the two finalists, team Punjab and team Wapda.
Punjab won the first National Women's Football Championship held at Jinnah Stadium, taking home with them 50,000 rupees (approximately US$900).
They defeated Pakistan Wapda (Water and Power Development Authority) 1-0 with a penalty kick. However, Wapda tried to argue against the goal when their goalie got injured during the penalty, resulting in a mass brawl between the two teams.
A long delay ensued when the WAPDA players threatened to walk off the pitch.
The game only started to resume after tournament organizers and Pakistan Sports Board director Arif Mehmud Siddique intervened.
The first women's football championship was held in an attempt to promote women sports in Pakistan. It followed strict Islamic guidelines including no men spectators and fully covered women players.
By Nataskia van Dam

Soccer on big stage (Oct 6)
Australian women's soccer will not get its revamped league until next year, but the one-off Women's National Football Championship is about to get into full swing with the playoffs taking place this weekend. The WNFC is the temporary replacement of the Women's National Soccer League, which, like the NSL, was abandoned following a review conducted by the Football Federation of Australia in April 2005. The FFA recommended that an extensive feasibility study be undertaken with the goal of forming a new league for the 2006 season.
In the meantime the WNFC was set-up as a nine-day round robin tournament with the eight participating teams split into two groups and the top two from each group advancing into the playoffs.
NSW was the dominant state in the round robin stage, with NSW Sapphire Blue and NSW Sapphire White both winning all three of their matches, and Northern NSW Pride making it through to the playoffs with one win, one draw and a loss.
NSW Sapphire White will take on 2005 WNSL champions the Queensland Sting, and NSW Sapphire Blue face Northern NSW Pride in the semi-finals to be played tomorrow, Friday 7 th October.
The final will be played between the winners of these two matches on Sunday 9 th October at Sydney's Aussie Stadium, in a curtain-raiser to the A-League match between Sydney FC and Adelaide United.
By Sam Ryan
Australian Football Federation website

Features

From Melbourne to Florida (Nov 7, 2005)
Meet Selin Kuralay

Links

FIFA Women's site