Canberra United youngsters Karly Roestbakken and Aoife Colvill are in Lebanon with the Westfield Young Matildas for the upcoming AFC Women’s U/19 Championship – Qualifiers Round 1 to be held from the 24th-28th October.
The selection continues what has been an incredible year for both players, with Roestbakken one of the best players in the NPLW Capital Football competition and Colvill claiming the Golden Boot with a brilliant 42-goal haul through the campaign.
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Australia will need to top their group, or finish as one of the two best runners-up in the first stage of qualifying, to advance to the second round of the qualification process which will be held in April next year.
Should the Westfield Young Matildas successfully navigate the two qualification tournaments, they will advance to next year’s AFC U19 Women’s Championship in Thailand where a place at the 2020 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup will be on the line.
Canberra United Head Coach Heather Garriock said it was no surprise that the two were selected.
“I am delighted for Karly and Aoife to see them selected in the squad for Lebanon,” she said.
“It comes as no great surprise though and is a testament to the Canberra United Academy structure that they have been a part of for a while now.”
WATCH THE WESTFIELD YOUNG MATILDAS TAKE ON MONGOLIA HERE.
Both Roestbakken and Colvill were part of the Canberra United Academy squad that made the Federation Cup Final and NPLW Preliminary Final this past year, and fellow Academy teammate Sarah Morgan was also selected for the squad headed to Lebanon.
Canberra United CEO Phil Brown praised the coaches and staff of the Academy for their work in the development of the budding stars.
“Our Canberra United Academy continues to produce excellent footballers and provide a genuine pathway into the national team setup and also into the Westfield W-League.”
“I’d like to extend my congratulations to Karly, Aoife and Sarah but also to the coaching staff they have worked with during their time in the Academy for helping them to where they are now.”
Roestbakken and Colvill will miss the Westfield W-League season opener against Melbourne City on the 28th October, before returning for the round two meeting with Perth Glory at McKellar Park the following weekend.
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The Westfield Young Matildas departed Australia on Friday, 19 October 2018 and play their first qualification match against Mongolia on Wednesday, 24 October 2018.
Australia will meet hosts Lebanon on Friday, before rounding out the first phase of qualifying with a match against Hong Kong on Sunday, 28 October 2018.
