Ante Miličić has named his squad for the Matildas’ training camp and friendly against the United States in early April.
The 23-player squad looks a little different to the one which took part in the Cup of Nations at the end of February/start of March.
Returning to the squad are the likes of Katrina Gorry and Chloe Logarzo. Gorry returns following an ankle injury which cut short her W-League season while Logarzo has recovered from the injury she sustained in the W-League grand final.
Mary Fowler has also been recalled. Last year she was withdrawn from the squad by her dad following comments from Alen Stajčić about the family’s lifestyle.
Sydney FC defender Liz Ralston and UCLA goalkeeper Tegan Micah are the uncapped additions to the squad.
Ralston had a sensational season with the Sky Blues in the W-League culminating in the championship win while Micah is US-based and has played college soccer at UCLA for the last three years.
Thanks to these inclusions the likes of Eliza Campbell, Alex Chidiac, Amy Harrison, Princess Ibini and Tersea Polias have all not been included in the squad.
But Miličić was quick to mention that their absence isn’t an indication of their World Cup prospects.
“It has been my intention from the outset to give as many players as possible a chance to impress ahead of our final squad selection for France,” he said.
“Katrina, Chloe, Mary, Elizabeth, and Teagan will join us in the United States, and while some players have missed out on this window that doesn’t mean that their hopes of being with us at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup are over.
“We will be looking for players to step up in the United States both in training and our match against the world’s number one ranked side, and as a unit we will be aiming to build upon the foundations and standards we set during the recent Cup of Nations,” he said.
This friendly will provide Miličić with another opportunity to assess his options before naming the squad for the World Cup in mid-May. This will be followed by a 10-day training camp in Turkey, beginning on May 19.
Australia’s match against the USWNT kicks off at 12:30pm AEDT on the 5th of April.
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