Sarah Walsh and Women's Professional Soccer (USA)

Matildas striker Sarah Walsh has spent this season playing football (soccer) for Sky Blue FC and St Louis Athletica in the USA.

Red the full interview over at The World Game.

Walsh will be returning at the end of the football season in the US to strap on her boots for the W-League which kicks off next month.

W-League draw

It's official - Salisbury and Peters to retire from the Matildas

The upcoming friendly series between Australia and Italy will be the last time we get to see Cheryl Salisbury and Joanne Peters in action in the green and gold.

Salisbury, Australia's greatest ever footballer, has represented her country 150 times, scored a record 37 goals and as the glue that holds the team together, she will be sorely missed.

Cheryl will formally announce that Saturday's international friendly against Italy on 31st January at Parramatta Stadium will be her 151st and final appearance for the Matildas at a press conference this afternoon at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Parramatta.

Joey Peters' last game will be the second of the two friendly matches to be played, this time in Canberra.

Peters has played 109 matches for the Matildas and is only the third woman to reach the milestone, after making her debut against New Zealand in Auckland as a 17-year-old in 1996.

So if you're a soccer fan... or just want to celebrate the great sporting achievements of both these women, get yourself along to the games below.

31 January 2009
Time: 16:00 - 18:00
Location: Parramatta Stadium
Street: O'Connell Street
Town/City: Parramatta, Australia
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=48647836852

07 February 2009
Time: 16:00 - 19:00
Location: Canberra Stadium
Street: Battye Street
Town/City: Canberra, Australia
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=44565797071

Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=MATILDAS09&searchId=84b3cd47-28be-4bbf-b308-fb3e7b35d96f

Street Matildas shine at Homeless World Cup

They only met once before donning the green and gold to play soccer for Australia. The Street Matildas have been winning over the crowds with their dogged determination and cheerful team spirit.

The Aussie women are 6th on the table after a win against Cameroon in a game that went down to penalties after the scores were locked at 3 a piece at full time. In other games, they went down to Kyrgyzstan 8-2, Colombia 7-1 and Uganda 4-0. They have their final game against Paraguay tonight.

More info on the Street Matildas and the matches here and here.

If you're in Melbourne, try and get a long to a few of the remaining games, all the details on the Homeless World Cup website.

Cheryl Salisbury - Australia's Greatest Football Player

Cheryl Salisbury has represented her country more times than any other soccer player or footballer of any code, make or female. It's women like her who inspire us here at Sporting Sheilas. There's a great article about Cheryl over at the Sydney Morning Herald - kudos to author Erin O'Dwyer.

Matildas Selected in WPS Draft - Soccer

Sarah Walsh, Heather Garriock and Lisa De Vanna have all been selected in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) 2009 international draft held in the U.S yesterday.

Each team in the U.S is allocated up to 5 international players as well as 3 players from the U.S. Women's National Team.

This selection does not reflect and actually commitment on behalf of the players, rather it's the beginning of negations of a contract.

You can read more about the U.S. draft over at the WPS blog.

The season in the U.S kicks off in April 2009 - well after the completion of the W-League here in Australia... so we won't be missing out on seeing our Matildas in action on home soil.

Other international players seleced include Brazil's Marta and Cristiane.

Women's A-League A-Go!! Soccer

The word has finally arrived! Women's soccer will have it's own national competition known as the W-League starting in October.

Fingers crossed for free to air broadcasting - here's looking at you SBS!

Read the full announcement over at Fox Sports: W-League to debut in October

Matildas vs Japan - Soccer

The Australian women's soccer team will play Japan next week in a friendly in Kobe, Japan.

Coach Tom Sermanni has filled out the squad with a lot of the younger players that a coming through with players like Cheryl Salisbury and Kate McShea unavailable for the game.

Matildas Squad to face Japan

Goalkeepers: Melissa Barbieri, Lydia Williams.

Defenders: Brooke Spence, Ellen Beaumont, Clare Polkinghorne, Kim Carroll.

Midfielders: Renee Rollason, Heather Garriock, Amy Chapman, Servet Uzunlar, Lauren Colthorpe, Danielle Small, Joanne Burgess.

Forwards: Caitlin Munoz, Leena Khamis, Lisa De Vanna, Kathryn Gill, Kyah Simon.

Read more over at Four Four Two

Matilda set to bow out - Di Alagich - Soccer

Three World Cups. Two Asian Cups. Two Olympic Games. And a scholarship holder in two different sports.

But even that doesn’t tell the full story for one of the mainstays of the Australian women’s football team, the Matildas, for the past 13 years.

29 year old defender, Di Alagich, is set to retire from international competition when the Matildas play host to the New Zealand women’s team this Saturday afternoon at North Sydney Oval.

Alagich, who is part of an Australian football dynasty, made her international debut in football when she was just 16 against the then newly-crowned World Cup champions, Norway.

Her 86 game career (including this Saturday’s match) is even more impressive considering she was ruled out of football for two years when she required a knee reconstruction in 1996, and again suffered knee injuries in 2001 and 2003.

Alagich has the honour of starting in every single one of Australia’s World Cup and Olympic games matches from 1999 to 2007 involving the Women’s World Cup tournaments in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games.

More at SBS The World Game