Man City Women stars head off on international duty

Several Man City Women’s players will head off on international duty after this weekend’s FA WSL fixture against Birmingham City.

England will be in action against Brazil and Australia on October 6^th and 9^th in Nottingham and London. Seven City players will be going away with the seniors, Karen Bardsley, Steph Houghton, Abbie McManus, Jill Scott, Keira Walsh, Mel Lawley and Nikita Parris, as Phil Neville’s side play friendlies in preparation for next year’s Women’s World Cup in France.

Meanwhile two of City’s youngsters, Esme Morgan and Jess Park will be flying out to Croatia to face Malta, the host nation and Slovakia in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Women’s Under 19 Championship.

On the international side, Belgium and Denmark will play the Netherlands and Switzerland respectively for a place at the 2019 WWC. Tessa Wullaert will be in action for Belgium on the 5^th of October while Nadia Nadim and Mie Leth Jans made the Danish squad for the October 9^th fixture.

Also participating in WWC qualification are Canada and City’s Janine Beckie. The 24 year old and the other North, Central American and Caribbean countries will be taking part in the CONCACAF tournament for their chance to go to France. Canada will play Jamaica on October 5^th followed by Cuba on the 8^th and Costa Rica on the 11^th.

While they have no upcoming fixtures, the Scottish Women’s National Team will be provided with £80,000 of funding from the Scottish Government; allowing the team to train full time leading up to the World Cup. The financial support will mean those players who aren’t currently professional can train full time in the lead up to the competition.

Head coach Shelley Kerr told scottishfa.co.uk : “It was an incredible achievement to qualify for our first ever FIFA World Cup”.

“We are determined to start the tournament in the best possible shape and are delighted to have the support of the Scottish Government through the Scottish Football Partnership. We are in a fortunate position where a number of our players are already playing full time and this agreement allows all of our squad to be at their optimal best when the tournament comes around”.