Canberra United’s custodian Lydia Williams has declared she wants to be the Matildas number one goal keeper next year as the battle for the starting spot heats up this weekend when Melissa Barbieri and her Melbourne Victory outfit visits McKellar Park on Saturday evening.
Canberra United-s custodian Lydia Williams has declared she wants to be the Matildas number one goal keeper next year as the battle for the starting spot heats up this weekend when Melissa Barbieri and her Melbourne Victory outfit visits McKellar Park on Saturday evening.
Barieri is considered to be the Matildas starting keeper but Williams is hoping for a changing of the guard in the New Year.
“Being in the number one position is quite important for me and I think I-ve reached that point in my career where it-s time to move in and make myself more dominant.”
With both Canberra United and Melbourne Victory sharing third spot on the Westfield W-League ladder, Williams believes her side has the strength to record its first home victory and leap frog the visitors on the ladder.
“I-m very confident because we-ve had most of the players here this week for training and last week was a great win for us so hopefully that-s going to carry over into this weekend,“ said the Canberra United shot stopper.
As with any good story line, a sub-plot exists, with Williams and her opposite number Barbieri line up against each other for the second time this season after Canberra United came away with the three points the first time around.
“Obviously that-s my own personal goal but I think the bigger picture is if we win this weekend we-ll be in the finals.”
“Unlike the first time where we played the Melbourne Victory it was a personal battle I definitely think this one is more about doing it for the team and getting a win.”
An integral member of the Australian FIFA Women-s World Cup campaign, Williams- career rocketed in 2008 with the goalkeeper making her fair share of Matildas- starting line-ups over the course of the year.
“It was a really big year for me,” Williams said ahead of Canberra United-s vital clash.
“I think I-ve improved a lot which has come from growing up and maturing as a person so I-m quite happy with how my 2008 turned out.”
Williams is expecting to continue her meteoric rise in the Matildas ranks in the years to come after an outstanding season between the sticks for Canberra United in the inaugural season of the Westfield W-League.
“I think it-s gone pretty well so far, obviously there are a few results that we wish we could have done better with but I think my own personal performance in the Westfield W-League has been pretty good so hopefully people have started talking about me.”
“I would feel a little bit hard done by if I didn-t get more starts for the national team but I-ve been speaking to Tom [Sermanni] and the coaches so from what I-ve heard it-s all positive.”
“2009 is really important because we-ve got Asian qualifiers for the next FIFA Women-s World Cup.”
“There-s going to be a lot of internationals and a lot of camps [in 2009] so I guess it will be all about getting a little more comfortable with all the new girls coming in and trying to secure that starting spot.”
“My sights are set on the World Cup qualifiers but 2010 will be the major year for me so I-m getting ready for that.”
Canberra United take on the Melbourne Victory in Round Nine of the Westfield W-League tomorrow evening at McKellar Park with kick off at 6:00pm.
