de Reus reveals Matildas international schedule

Australia set for international friendlies in June/July | (Credit: Danielle Warby)

Matildas Head Coach Hesterine de Reus today officially announced the Matildas international schedule for June/July with the World No. 9 set to play New Zealand, the Netherlands and France.

In New Zealand, Australia will commence their healthy Trans-Tasman rivalry when they face off on 13 and 16 June in Canberra.

"I am very enthusiastic to finally play a game," said de Reus.

"New Zealand is also a good one because it has a long history so we definitely don't want to lose the New Zealand games."

As we reported earlier this month, following the two match series, the Matildas will embark on a European Tour with matches against world number 14 the Netherlands, Dutch club side Ado Den Haag and world number five France.

The matches against the Netherlands and France sees the Matildas line up against two teams in the final stages of the preparations for the 2013 European Championships in Sweden.

"We think that France and Holland will be very tough to play against.  They are probably at their best of their performances to start in a big, big tournament."

"It is challenging to meet with them and see where they [the Matildas] are on that level."

With the majority of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada to be played on artificial turf, de Reus considers the match against club side Ado Den Haag an opportunity to begin acclimatising to the surface.

"In Holland we have a lot of artificial, the most modern ones, so for me it's an opportunity to see the girls perform on artificial."

"We also need to improve our attacking, especially in the box so hopefully when we play a club team we will be able to reach the box a lot time and do a lot of finishing."

In preparation for the friendlies, a 22 player Matildas squad will head into 4 day training camp once again this week (25-28 April) at the AIS in Canberra.

Westfield Matildas – International Friendly Match Schedule – June/July 2013

Westfield Matildas (9) v New Zealand (20)

Thursday 13 June 2013

AIS Athletics  Track, Bruce, ACT

Kick-Off 5:30pm

Note: this is a closed door match only open to authorised media

Westfield Matildas (9) v New Zealand (20)

Sunday 16 June 2013

McKellar Park, Belconnen, ACT

Kick-Off 2:00pm

Ticketing details to be announced shortly, please visit www.footballaustralia.com.au/tickets for further details

Netherlands (14) v Westfield Matildas (9)

Saturday 29 June 2013

TATA Steel Stadion, Velsen-Zuid, Netherlands

Kick-off – 7:00pm

For Ticketing details please visit https://knvb.voetbalticket-shop.nl/web/show/id=370026

Ado den Haag v Westfield Matildas

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Kyocera stadium, The Hague, Netherlands

Kick-off – 6:30pm

France (5) v Westfield Matildas (9)

Saturday 6 July 2013

Venue – Angers

Kick-off – TBA

Westfield Matildas squad for AIS Training Camp – Canberra – 25–28 April 2013

As at Wednesday 24 April 2013