CommBank Young Matildas head coach Leah Blayney has selected a 24-player squad to begin building for the 2024 AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Round 2 Qualifiers with a training camp in Canberra including Canberra United stars Sasha Grove and Chloe Lincoln.

Held at the Australian Institute of Sport, the six-day assembly will be the first for the Australian U-20 Women’s National Team since their path to Uzbekistan was made clearer earlier this month.

The CommBank Young Matildas will face Lebanon, IR Iran and Vietnam after they were drawn in Group A for June’s qualifiers with the top two teams heading to the Finals in 2024.

Blayney squad: “Now that our opponents are confirmed for the Round 2 Qualifiers, we will step up our preparations to ensure we are as best prepared to take on three challenging nations in our group.”

“For this camp we are pleased to bring back a majority of the players that demonstrated their professionalism in ensuring we secured passage to Round 2, and we look to continue evolving our play for the next set of matches.”

21 players were involved in April’s Round 1 Qualifiers in the Kyrgyz Republic with two new players joining that contingent including defender Naomi Chinnama who returns from injury. The squad includes a host of players currently making their mark in the A-League Women’s competition. There is also solid representation from regional Australia, with five players hailing from country centres.

“This squad highlights the quality of players across Australia and demonstrates that we will reward quality performances no matter where a player is from,” Blayney continued.

“The priority for us in this camp will be picking up where we left off, while looking to provide a solid platform for the Round 2 Qualifiers.” she concluded.

Several Canberra-based players will be brought into camp for invaluable training experience in the youth national team set up.

Follow along with the CommBank Young Matildas via matildas.com.au to stay up to date on all fixtures, squad announcements and news.

Football Australia acknowledges the Australian Sports Commission in supporting the high-performance pillar of our Legacy ’23 Plan, designed to provide pathways to foster competitive depth in the Women’s National Team Programs.

COMMBANK YOUNG MATILDAS SQUAD | TRAINING CAMP | 3 – 8 APRIL

NAME		POSITION	CLUB | MEMBER FEDERATION
Alexia	APOSTOLAKIS	Defender	Western Sydney Wanderers | Football NSW
Tegan	BERTOLISSIO	Defender	Macarthur Rams | Football NSW
Ava	BRIEDIS	Midfielder	Melbourne Victory FC | Football Victoria
Claudia	CICCO	Forward	Wellington Phoenix FC | Football NSW
Jynaya	DOS SANTOS	Forward	Sydney FC | Football NSW
Gemma	FERRIS	Defender	Western Sydney Wanderers | Football NSW
Tahlia	FRANCO	Goalkeeper	Sydney FC | Football NSW
Daniela	GALIC	Midfielder	Melbourne City FC | Football NSW
Lara	GOOCH	Forward	Newcastle Jets FC | Northern NSW Football
Sasha	GROVE	Forward	Canberra United FC | Capital Football
Shay	HOLLMAN	Midfielder	Sydney FC | Football NSW
Kahli	JOHNSON	Forward	Western United | Football NSW
Zara	KRUGER	Midfielder	Brisbane Roar FC | Football Queensland
Chloe	LINCOLN	Goalkeeper	Canberra United Academy | Football NSW
Maya	LOBO	Defender	Macarthur Rams | Football NSW
Tijan	MCKENNA	Defender	Perth Glory FC | Football West
Alana	MURPHY	Midfielder	Melbourne Victory FC | Football Victoria
Emilia	MURRAY	Forward	Adelaide United FC | Football South Australia
Jessika	NASH	Defender	Melbourne Victory FC | Football NSW
Ella	O’GRADY	Forward	Football Queensland-QAS | Football Queensland
Sienna	SAVESKA	Forward	Western Sydney Wanderers | Football NSW
Anika	STAJCIC	Forward	Sydney FC | Football NSW
Naomi	CHINNAMA	Defender	Melbourne City FC | Football Victoria
Grace	WILSON	Goalkeeper	Adelaide United FC | Football South Australia

 

AFC U20 WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP | ROUND 2 QUALIFIERS – GROUP A

Australia v Lebanon
Date: June 2023
Time: TBD

IR Iran v Australia
Date: June 2023
Time: TBD

Australia v Vietnam
Date: June 2023
Time: TBD