Karly Roestbakken recently returned from Myanmar, where she helped the Young Matildas qualify for the 2019 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship and received hearty praise from Head Coach Gary Van Egmond.
Van Egmond believes Roestbakken could be a bolter for the Westfield Matildas squad headed to France for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after a strong performance in Myanmar coupled with her work in the Future Matildas program in Sydney.
The 18-year old moved following Season 11 of the Westfield W-League to join the program after coming up through the Canberra United Academy, and said she is enjoying the environment.
“I love it,” she said.
“I’m really enjoying it in Sydney, the program has helped me work on a lot of my weaknesses and I’m slowly progressing.
“This program is so beneficial for anyone who wants to become a Matilda, and I think being in this environment 24/7, you have some Matildas coming in, you’re getting the experience and I think it has so many benefits.”
Roestbakken was part of the leadership group for the Young Matildas over in Myanmar, along with MelindaJ Barbieri and Charlotte Grant, and wore the armband for the first match with Nepal before she fell ill and only played a few minutes in game three.
The Championships later this year serve a double purpose, with three teams qualifying from that tournament for the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
While the Young Matildas breezed through their group in Myanmar, Roestbakken said the group knows that they still have a lot of work ahead to qualify for the World Cup.
“It was exciting to progress through this stage,” she said after arriving back in Sydney.
“We all are building as a group towards that aim, we all want to go to the U/20 World Cup, so it’s just another step towards our goal.”
“As a group we are pretty excited, but we know that now is where the real work begins.
“We are going to come up against teams like Japan, North & South Korea, so we know that we have to work really hard now.”
