Canberra United CEO discusses the forthcoming International Women’s Club Championship (the Mobcast Cup) with Women’s Soccer United.
Canberra United CEO discusses the forthcoming International Women-s Club Championship (the Mobcast Cup) with Women-s Soccer United.
Q1: How do you feel about the mobcast cup from the team supporters’ point of view?
A1: This is an important event on the women-s football calendar. The Japanese Football Association and the Japan Women-s League must be congratulated on taking the initiative to improve the kind of international competition at club level. The work that is going into the organisation of the event is impressive and I-m looking forward to seeing the promotion including website, social media and broadcasting. As the Australian W-League champions, Canberra United players and staff are excited about our participation because having the opportunity to play against some of the best players in the world in their club teams is a new thing as is the chance to play in big stadiums with big crowds.
Q2: What do you think of your team’s chances of winning the cup? What percent?
A2: Probably around 65% because we know our first opponent, INAC Kobe has a lot of World Cup champions and Olympic Games silver medalists in their line-up. If we qualify for the 1 v 2 game then we could play Lyonnaise which boasts several players from the French national team. Having seen France play at the last world cup, I think this challenge would also be as daunting as playing Kobe.
Q3: Which opponent do you think will be toughest to play against in the mobcast cup?
A3: Our first game against INAC Kobe with Sawa, Kinga, Ohno etc. Sawa is such a legend in the game – she is all class, and when combined with the other world class players it will be a fast, skillful and tough game.
Q4: What do you think are the best qualities that your team possesses?
A4: We are a unified and happy team that works hard and likes to enjoy every game. We have speed and we have experience in different positions. We also have a great coach who loves these kind of pressure games so I-m sure our players will
Q5: Do you think there could be opportunity for more club teams to compete at the tournament in the future?
A5: yes, definitely. I understand the JFA and JWL would like to host this kind of event every year and expand with more teams..Noting that the concept of the tournament is based on national league champions, it would be terrific to see the champion club teams from Korea, China, USA, England and other European teams competing.
Q6: Besides the three teams participating in the mobcast cup, which club team would you like your team to take on?
A6: I think it would be great to play the club champions from the FA women-s league in England. A lot of work has been done to improve the status of the women-s game in the UK. As we are in the 5th season of our new national league and Australia and England have a long history of rivalry, it would be interesting to see the standard of their league against ours. Added to that is the fact that a lot of Australians and New Zealanders played with some of the England teams including our reserve goal-keeper Aroon Clansey.
