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Image source: www.matildas.com.au
Australia will be playing host to its first official FIFA tournament when the best women’s national teams touch down in their country come July 20, 2023.
The Matildas, the women’s national team of Australia have been the country’s pride and joy in the game of football and now, they will have the opportunity to win a title in front of their home fans.
This article is one of the sports betting tips by Overlyzer ahead of that historic women’s World Cup next summer.
Sam Kerr
Starting off with the poster lady of the current generation of the Matilda’s is the right thing to do because Sam Kerr has been one of the world’s best footballers since her professional debut in 2008 with Perth Glory.
Born Samantha May Kerr, she has played for clubs in her home country of Australia and clubs in the United States of America. She currently turns up for Chelsea where she is giving the biggest of names a run for their money.
The 28-year-old Sam Kerr will be expected to lead the Matildas, who she has represented since 2009, against their opponents next summer. She will also be looking to add to her trophy cabinet which has three FA Women’s Super League medals as well as a myriad of individual awards.
Joanne Peters
Joanne Peters is a retired Matilda who represented Australia between 1996 and 2009. She is widely considered one of the best players the country has ever seen and a member of the Australian football hall of fame, being inducted in 2010, a year after her official retirement from the sport.
She was the first Australian woman to play for a South American team when she turned out for Santos in the early 2000s. She also had stints in Sweden and USA, but spent most of her playing career in Australia.
Peters played 109 times as a Matilda and scored 28 goals, and was honoured as the Australian women’s footballer of the year in 2009 when she retired.
Cheryl Salisbury
Cheryl Salisbury is a retired Matilda who represented the team from 1994 to 2009, earning 151 caps to become the country’s most capped player ever for both men and women. She is a towering centre back who was a menace to opposition attackers.
Salisbury is a Matilda’s legend in all ramifications, having undertaken several endeavours to help the team off and on the pitch. And she also retired as their third highest goalscorer of all time, before being inducted into the Australian football hall of fame the same year she left the national team.
Salisbury spent her career in Australia, Japan and the USA. She was most successful with Australia, however, having won three Oceania Women’s Nations Cup titles.
Julie Murray
One of the best strikers to ever turn out for the Australian women’s national team, Julie Murray is a legend who has inspired dozens of Matildas to this day. She made her national team debut in 1986 at the age of 15 and played until 2000, before hanging up her boots in 2001.
In her playing days, she was a world-class striker who was described as having a great understanding of the game and good vision. One of her standout traits was her powerful shot and her ability to influence a game in tight situations.
Murray, alongside fellow Matilda Carol Vinson, was the first Australian women’s football player to play abroad. She has been awarded a lot of medals for her contribution to Australian football and has also been a FIFA Ambassador for women’s football since 2005.
Collette Gardiner
Collette Gardiner (née McCallum) is a retired Matilda who represented the team from 2005 to 2015. As a midfielder, she was regarded as one of the most technically sound players to have ever donned the Australian jersey.
She is Scottish by birth and ancestry, only representing Australia as a result of her having lived in the country since she was four years old. In 2009, she took the mantle of leadership directly from Joanne Peters and Cheryl Salisbury who both retired that year.
She has become a legend in the game that the Australian Young Player of the Year award has been renamed in her honour. As a Matilda, she won the Asian Women’s Cup amongst a number of honours at club level.
Lydia Williams
Lydia Williams is the goalkeeper of the current Matildas generation, having made her debut in 2005. She joined the Matildas at the age of 15 having never heard of them in 2005 before becoming the official starting goalkeeper in 2011.
She has since featured for the team in 102 official games including the 2011, 2015 and 2019 World Cups. She is expected to play her farewell tournament in 2023 when Australia hosts the rest of the world.
She is a W-League women champion and one of the most well-travelled Matildas, having played in France, England, USA and Sweden.