2010 is turning out to be Australia's biggest year in football ever. In a FIFA World Cup year and with Australia bidding to host the 2018 or 2022 tournament, history was created when the Qantas Socceroos and the Westfield Matildas trained together for the first time ever.
In a rare coordination of travel schedules, the Qantas Socceroos are in
camp on the Gold Coast to prepare for their important AFC Asian Cup 2011
Qualification match against Indonesia, whilst the Westfield Matildas are also
there to prepare for their two international friendlies against DPR Korea with
all matches to be played in Brisbane next week.
Football Federation Australia's
Strength and Conditioning coach Darren Burgess took both squads through a
thorough warm-up before the players broke into mixed groups for Tom Sermanni
(Westfield Matildas Head Coach), Robbie Hooker (Westfield Matildas Assistant
Coach), Henk Duut (Qantas Socceroos Assistant Coach) and Graham Arnold (Qantas
Socceroos Assistant Coach) to work on passing drills.
The goalkeepers of each
squad were also put through a rigorous combined training work-out with Tony
Franken (Qantas Socceroos goalkeeper coach) and Paul Jones (Westfield
Matildas).
The training session allowed the teams to test their
ability against their counterparts from the opposite sex with all walking away
with a better appreciation of each others talents.
Add your name to support the Bid to help us continue to
develop our football history by bringing the FIFA World Cup to Australia in 2018
or 2022. It will be a FIFA World Cup to be proud of.
