A strong contingent of Melbourne Victory’s W-League Championship winning squad have been selected in the second Women’s Talent Identification Camp to be held in Sydney from 4 – 7 May 2021.
Victory Captain Angela Beard, Lisa De Vanna, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Melina Ayres, MelindaJ Barbieri and Polly Doran have been named in Melissa Andreatta’s extended 26-player domestic-based squad.
https://twitter.com/victorywleague/status/1383691782098235392
The 26 players selected have been invited on the back of strong performances in the November 2020 camp, eye-catching appearances in the W-League and through the enhanced scouting network – across all age groups – of the women’s national team program.
The second Women’s Talent Identification Camp assists Tony Gustavsson and Melissa Andreatta as they work towards selecting the Matildas final 18 player squad for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Women’s Football Tournament.
“Last November we expressed a commitment to craft more opportunities for Australian-based players to demonstrate their ability to enhance the national team and I am delighted that we are able to deliver on this commitment,” Andreatta said.
“Many of the selected players were in contention to be a part of the April FIFA window before the health and safety protocols enforced deemed them ineligible. It has been fantastic to see how they have responded to the disappointment and highlights the character in the group.
“This Women’s Talent ID Camp is part of raft of initiatives Football Australia have put into effect to create high performance environments to allow for excellence to shine.
“From a coaching perspective we need to concentrate on finding players that can step up to the international Standard.
“On finding those players that can help assist the team in showing that attacking, entertaining, hard defending style of football that we want as our identity, and that we know helps us to win games.
“This Talent ID camp will be an excellent opportunity for the invited players to embrace this challenge and show us they can play at a really good tempo, at speed, with match intelligence, a good presence and a hard approach to the game. I’m excited to see what they can do.”
