McShea comes in for DPR Korea clash

Qantas Matildas coach Tom Sermanni has named a strong line-up to tackle DPR Korea (North Korea) in tomorrow’s crucial AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group B match at Hindmarsh Stadium making just one change from the side which trounced the Korean Republic last Sunday. Queensland defender Kate McShea comes into the side for Karla Reuter

Qantas Matildas coach Tom Sermanni has named a strong line-up to tackle DPR Korea (North Korea) in tomorrow-s crucial AFC Women-s Asian Cup Group B match at Hindmarsh Stadium making just one change from the side which trounced the Korean Republic last Sunday.

Queensland defender Kate McShea comes into the side for Karla Reuter who suffered a minor hip injury in that match.

Fellow defender Thea Slatyer is quickly returning to full fitness after a thigh complaint that has so far prevented her taking the field to date - the only player in the squad of 20 yet to do so.

A win for the Qantas Matildas will ensure qualification for the semi finals and also guarantee top spot in the group meaning a meeting against the runner-up of Group A - likely to be either Japan or China - next Thursday.

“This is definitely a key match for us with DPR Korea the highest ranked opponent in our group,” says Qantas Matildas coach Tom Sermanni.

“If we win we can then concentrate on the semi finals, and equally importantly, we can also then take a lot of confidence from the result and demonstrate to ourselves of what we are capable.”

Australian starting line-up to face DPR Korea:- Melissa Barbieri (gk); Dianne Alagich, Kate McShea, Cheryl Salisbury, Heather Garriock; Sally Shipard, Joanne Peters, Collette McCallum; Caitlin Munoz, Kate Gill, Sarah Walsh

The AFC Women-s Asian Cup doubles as qualifying for next year-s FIFA Women-s World Cup with the top two nations to qualify automatically while the third-placed team will play-off against the third best team in CONCACAF. China as host nation for next year-s tournament has qualified automatically.

Australia knocked over the Korean Republic 4-0 last Sunday and two days later defeated Myanmar 2-0.

DPR Korea who is ranked seventh in the world have defeated Thailand 9-0 and Myanmar 3-0 in their two group matches to date.

Saturday 22 July Korea Republic v Myanmar - Hindmarsh Stadium @ 16:30 Australia v DPR Korea - Hindmarsh Stadium @ 19:00 Thailand - Bye

All First round Tickets: Adults - $5; 16 and under - free.

Tickets available at the gate or from VenueTix

Further Qantas Matildas information including player profiles is available at the following link:- Matildas Player Profiles

Further tournament information is available at the AFC tournament website:- www.afc.com