Jets Westfield W-League stars Gema Simon and Chloe Logarzo will head to the United States this month as part of Alen Stajcic’s 21-player squad for the upcoming Tournament of Nations.
Both players were contracted to the Jets for the Westfield W-League 2016/17 season, and are in Head Coach Craig Deans’ plans for the forthcoming campaign.
Simon and Logarzo are currently teammates at Avaldsnes IL in Norway. The team compete in the top division of Norwegian women’s football, the Toppserien, where they currently sit second by LSK Kvinner FK.
The Westfield Matildas are yet to beat the USA in 26 attempts and have healthy rivalries and history with their other two opponents in the tournament, Japan and Brazil.
With all four nations sitting inside the top eight on the FIFA Women’s world rankings, Stajcic is excited by what lies ahead.
“Being in the preparation phase for next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup, these are exactly the kind of matches we want and the opposition we want to test ourselves against,” said Stajcic.
“It gives us a chance to look at things we are doing well and things we need to improve on to become a dominant force at the 2018 Women’s Asian Cup and the Women’s World Cup in 2019.”
The Westfield Matildas’ first match of the Tournament of Nations is a blockbuster against hosts USA in Seattle (kick-off 12.00pm AEST Friday 28 July 2017).
2017 Tournament of Nations – Teams and Schedule
Westfield Matildas (ranked 7th)
Brazil (ranked 8th)
Japan (ranked 6th)
USA (ranked 1st)
Match Day 1 (27 July 2017) – Century Link Field, Seattle
Brazil v Japan
Kick-Off 4:15pm local time (9:15am AEST Friday 28 July)
USA v Westfield Matildas
Kick-Off 7:00pm local time (12:00pm AEST Friday 28 July)
Match Day 2 (30 July 2017) – Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Japan v Westfield Matildas
Kick-Off 2:15pm local time (7:15am AEST Monday 31 July)
USA v Brazil
Kick-Off 5:00pm local time (10:00am AEST Monday 31 July)
Match Day 3 (3 August 2017) – StubHub Center, Carson
Westfield Matildas v Brazil
Kick-Off 4:15pm local time (9:15am AEST Friday 4 August)
USA v Japan
Kick-Off 7:00pm local time (12:00pm AEST Friday 4 August)
