Qantas Matildas at full strength for Japan clash

The Qantas Matildas are set to be at full strength when they face Japan in the semi final of the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Adelaide tomorrow. The tournament doubles as qualifying for the 2007 Women's World Cup and a win tomorrow night will see the Qantas Matildas qualify for the premier event in women's football.

The Qantas Matildas are set to be at full strength when they face Japan in the semi final of the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Adelaide tomorrow. The tournament doubles as qualifying for the 2007 Women's World Cup and a win tomorrow night will see the Qantas Matildas qualify for the premier event in women's football.

The Australian team conducted their final training session today though coach Tom Sermanni will delay naming his team until tomorrow.

Victory would see the Qantas Matildas to be the first team to qualify for a final of an Asian competition following Australia joining the Asian Football Confederation on 1 January 2006.

"The girls are really confident going into tomorrow night's game because we have had a lot of great results against the top countries in the world in recent times," says Qantas Matildas captain Cheryl Salisbury.

"We have no doubt that we can win the game and go through, to not just the final and qualify for the World Cup, but win the tournament.

"We are also hoping to see lots of supporters at Hindmarsh Stadium cheering us on. We don't often get to play at home but I know that when we do, the team are lifted to another level so we really want to see Adelaide sports fans out in force for this match."

The match kicks off at 4.30pm (CST) with the second semi final between DPR Korea and China commencing at 7.30pm.

The winners will meet in the final at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday at 3.30pm (CST) with the third-placed match to commence at 12.30pm.

Aside from host-nation China, the two top teams in the AFC Women-s Asian Cup will qualify for the 2007 FIFA Women-s World Cup while the third-placed team will play-off against a CONCACAF representative. However should China finish in a top-three position, then the fourth-placed team will instead take part in the play-off.

Two neutral referees from Europe have been appointed to control tomorrow's semi finals. Sweden's Jenny Palmquist will control the match between Australia and Japan while Italy's Anna De Toni will officiate the semi final between DPR Korea and China. Anna De Toni is the first woman to referee in the Italian professional men-s league.

HEAD TO HEAD - SUMMARY

Australia-s record against other AFC Women-s Asian Cup semi finalists

Opponent - First match - P - W - D - L China PR - 08-06-88 (L 0-7) - 26 - 3 - 7 - 16 Japan - 01-10-84 (W 6-2) - 12 - 3 - 7 - 2 DPR Korea - 29-08-98 (D 0-0) - 6 - 1 - 3 - 2

Australia's record v Japan

01-10-84 W 6-2 Xian International Tournament - Xian, China 08-12-84 D 2-2 World Invitational - Taipei, Taiwan 04-12-89 D 2-2 Prima Cup - Kanagawa, Japan 05-12-89 D 1-1 Prima Cup - Kanagawa, Japan 27-09-94 D 2-2 Test Match - Tokyo, Japan 09-07-96 D 2-2 Pre-Olympic Tour - Fort Lauderdale, USA 31-05-00 W 1-0 Pacific Cup - Canberra, Australia 06-04-02 D 1-1 Tournoi International de France - Angouleme, France 27-07-03 D 0-0 3-Nations Tournament - Sendai, Japan 27-03-05 L 0-2 Friendly - Sydney, Australia 29-03-05 W 2-1 Friendly - Sydney, Australia 23-07-05 L 2-4 Friendly - Tokyo, Japan

Semi Final Tickets: Adults - $15; 16 and under - $7.50; Family (Two adults and two children - $20)

Tickets available at the gate or from VenueTix

www.footballaustralia.com.au will have a Live Match Update of the match, with coverage starting at 4.20pm (4.50pm AEST)