Australia’s U-23 Women’s National Team 24-player squad has been finalised with Greek Australian youngsters Alexia Apostolakis and Peta Trimis named to participate in the Four Nations Tournament in Växjö, Sweden later this month.
Held in May and June, Australia will feature in three friendly fixtures against Sweden, Germany and Poland.
The squad features a whopping 21 A-League Women’s players from 10 different clubs, including Apostolakis and Trimis.
Premiership Winners’ Melbourne City FC leads the contingent with five representatives including the 2023-24 A-League Women Young Footballer of the Year, Daniela Galic.
2023-24 A-League Women Goalkeeper of the Year, Morgan Aquino earns her first call-up at U-23 level, while 11 members of the Young Matildas AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup 2024 bronze medal-winning squad also feature in the final selections.
Alexia Apostolakis has established herself as a regular with her club, Western Sydney Wanderers.
The defender has made 17 appearances this season (booting one goal), with 12 appearances for Bankstown City while on loan.
Peta Trimis is considerably less experienced in comparison to Apostolakis, with this season marking her debut campaign as a professional footballer.
The talented Central Coast Mariners forward has impressed in her 21 games (starting in 10 of them), scoring three goals, with her performances earning her an upgrade from a scholarship to a full contract earlier this year.
Head Coach Melissa Andreatta said that the selections reflected the efforts of the players during the recent Australian and European seasons.
“This is a squad of players that have put their hand up for this fantastic opportunity to play high-quality nations through their performances in the recent A-League Women and European football seasons,” Andreatta said in a Football Australia media release.
“That 10 of the 12 A-League clubs are represented speaks to the evenness of the competition this season and is recognition of the developmental work that is being undertaken week in and week out.
“Excitingly, with this roster, there are a significant number of players that are in form and showing high potential to be a future CommBank Matilda.
“Now it is about taking this opportunity to challenge and test themselves against some of the best in Europe, which has been at the global forefront of women’s football development in recent years.”
Players and staff of the U-23 Women’s National Team squad will commence their camp in Sweden on Thursday May 23.
FOUR NATIONS TOURNAMENT – AUSTRALIA U-23 WNT MATCH SCHEDULE
Sweden U-23 WNT v Australia U-23 WNT
Date: Wednesday May 29 2024 / Thurs 30 May 30 2024 (AUS)
Time: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am (AEST)
Venue: Visma Arena, Växjö, Sweden
Australia U-23 WNT v Germany U-23 WNT
Date: Saturday June 1 2024 / Sun June 2 2024 (AUS)
Time: 6.00pm (local) / 2.00am (AEST)
Venue: Värendsvallen, Växjö, Sweden
Australia U-23 WNT v Poland U-23 WNT
Date: Tuesday June 4 2024
Time: 1.00pm (local) / 9.00pm (AEST)
Venue: Värendsvallen, Växjö, Sweden
