In warm conditions the Westfield Matildas and their Italian counterparts went head-to-head in front of almost 3,000 football fans at Canberra Stadium today.
Veteran of 109 'A' internationals and Westfield Matildas captain, Joanne Peters, took to the field playing her final international match after announcing her retirement earlier this week.
Peters almost had the dream start to her final match, hitting a free kick from 22 metres, which the Italian keeper pushed away at full stretch.
With a half time score of 0-3, Australia came back in the 64th minute with Collette McCallum scoring a terrific volley.
The Italians retaliated with another goal, securing the final score 1-5 in their favour.
“It is a disappointing results for our team. We are in a transition process at the moment with many new players entering the squad – however it is still important during this time that we remain competitive,” said Westfield Matildas coach, Tom Sermanni.
“These international friendly matches provided a good opportunity for Westfield W-League players to experience the difference between domestic and international football.
“Over the next few months we will be focused on rebuilding a cohesive team,” he said.
This was the final match in a two part series between Australia and Italy.
ENDS
Australia 1 (Collette MCCALLUM 64’)
Italy 5 (Melania GABBIADINI 7’, Patrizia PANICO 10’/58’/81’, Pamela CONTI 16’)
Canberra Stadium
Saturday 7 February 2009
Referee: Sara Hodson
Assistant Referees: Allyson Flynn, Jacqueline Leleu
Fourth official: Kirralee Gardener
Crowd: 2,916
Australia line-up: 18.Lydia WILLIAMS (gk), 2.Kate MCSHEA, 3.Karla REUTER (7.Heather GARRIOCK 45’), 6.Amber NEILSON (15.Samantha KERR 76’), 10.Joanne PETERS(c) (20.Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT 84’),11.Lisa DE VANNA, 12.Kathryn GILL (8.Caitlin MUNOZ 59’), 13.Tameka BUTT (9.Sarah WALSH 45’), 16.Lauren COLTHORPE, 17.Lana HARCH (14.Collette MCCALLUM 45’), 22.Ellie BRUSH.
Substitutes not used: 1.Melissa BARBIERI (gk), 4.Clare POLKINGHORNE, 19.Danielle BROGAN.
Yellow cards: Nil.
Red cards: Nil.
Italy line-up: 1.Chiara MARCHITELLI (gk), 2.Sara GAMA, 3.Roberta D’ADDA, 4.Alessia TUTTINO, 5.Elisabetta TONA, 6.Viviana SCHIAVI, 8.Melania GABBIADINI (14.Ilaria MAURO 89'), 9.Patrizia PANICO (c) (11.Silvia FUSELLI 84'), 10.Tatiana ZORRI, 18.Pamela CONTI (19.Marta CARISSIMI 74'), 20.Giulia DOMENICHETTI.
Substitutes not used: 7.Venusia PALIOTTI, 12.Anna Maria PICARELLI (gk), 13.Giorgia MOTTA, 16.Laura NEBOLI, 17.Alia GUAGNI, 22.Sara PENZO (gk).
Yellow cards: Alessia TUTTINO 42’.
Red cards: Nil.
Italy conquers Matildas
Moderators: BillShankly, John Cena, Forum Admins
Re: Italy conquers Matildas
Can’t believe no-one has anything to say on this.........anyone........no?
Didn’t watch the game, was it that bad?
Didn’t watch the game, was it that bad?
Re: Italy conquers Matildas
Don't really think there is any need for a panic. Irrespective of such a poor performance, they managed a 2-2 draw and a 1-0 loss in a training game. Every team is allowed to have a bad game every now and again. I'll only start being worried if those performances continue!