Old faces and new assemble as Sermanni names extended 36-player squad for Brazil, Taiwan.
A new wave of Matildas will join established stalwarts as part of an extended 36-player squad for coming friendlies against Brazil and Taiwan.
Seven uncapped players and eight with ten caps or less have been named by caretaker coach Tom Sermanni as part of his extended unti, joining the established core members of the squad such as Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, and Clare Hunt that secured a draw with Switzerland and downed Germany 2-1 during the October international window.
Hayley Raso and Tegan Micah return from injury to take a place in the 36 but Kaitlyn Torpey continues to be absent with a hamstring complaint and Cortnee Vine remains absent for personal reasons.
Veterans Alex Chidiac, Emily Gielnik, and Chloe Logarzo have all earned recalls after strong starts to the new A-League Women season and Remy Siemsen is back after scoring five goals in 12 games for Kristianstads DFF.
Morgan Aquino, Leah Davidson, Isabel Gomez, Hana Lowry, and Natasha Prior will get a taste of their first-ever senior international camp, while uncapped Western United custodian Chloe Lincoln and Adelaide defender Matilda McNamara have also earned recalls.
The side will face familiar foes Brazil at Lang Park on November 28 before heading to the Gold Coast for another clash on the Gold Coast on December 1. The Brisbane fixture will serve as a celebration of the retiring Clare Polkinghorne’s career, however, that does not necessarily rule the central defender out from featuring in the other three games in the window.
They will then shift to Victoria in the following days, where they will face Taiwan at AAMI Park on December 4 and at Kardinia Park on December 7.
Sermanni confirmed that not every of the 36 players will assemble in Queensland at the start of the window, with limited windows of player availability and logistical realities meaning some would return to their clubs after the games against the Seleção and others would link up with the squad once it had relocated to Victoria.
“There'll be players playing in the initial two games and then there'll be some going back, some staying on, and then players coming in for the second two games,” said Sermanni.
“There was a whole lot of stuff going on [with squad selection], if I'm being honest. There was a whole lot of juggling of numbers, fixing out squads and waiting to see who could play in what games and how long players were here.
“We had to do that and we did a lot of this stuff in conjunction with the coaches... particularly in relation to looking at the domestic players.”
Whereas Tony Gustavsson had previously opted to play his recognised starting XI in one fixture of an international window and a more inexperienced unit in the other, Sermanni said that he preferred to blend experience with fresh faces.
However, he also emphasis that this needed to be balanced with both the logistical challenges of the four day camp and the need to get a result in all four games.
“It's preferable to have a blended team,” he said. “But the reality is, whoever we play and whenever we play, we still want to put a team out that's going to win games. So it's getting the balance right between winning games, between putting strong teams out, and then also giving players opportunity at the same time.
“That's something that will sort out when we when we come into camp and look at all the dynamics and injuries and all the other stuff that happens around the camp.
“But I don't have one set of [ideas where] we're going to play what's perceived as a top team in this game, and then the not top team in that game.”
Despite the extended nature of the squad and Sermanni’s desire to expose a new cohort of players to international football, there are inevitably players that have missed out. Western defender Grace Maher, Linköping flanker Polly Doran, Melbourne City’s midfielder Laura Hughes, and Sydney FC fucrum Mackenzie Hawkesby amongst the unfortunate few to miss out.
“We had a big list of players,” said Sermanni. “We put out an extended squad way and above the ones we picked from. And it did become very close and to be honest, I haven't seen a lot of these players, so, it was touch and go between the players we picked and some other ones that have have just missed out.”
Melbourne Victory defender Kayla Morrison, meanwhile, was being monitored as a potential call-up but, at present, remains ineligible as FIFA process her switch in eligibility from the United States to Australia.
“We're just waiting for FIFA,” he said. “We put in all the paperwork. I believe it's all gone in. And it's a question of us just waiting to see when or if that comes back positively, and then we can move on from there.”