| Kelly's celebrations on hold The Courier-Mail 26aug03 PREMIERSHIP celebrations will be done a little differently by leading Matildas player Kelly Golebiowski this week. Golebiowski, 22, became only the third Australian to be part of a Women's USA (WUSA) championship-winning soccer squad after her Washington Freedom outfit downed Atlanta Beat 2-1 in extra-time at San Diego today. But the Australian will have little time to savour the moment. Sydney's Golebiowski is due to join her Matildas team-mates in China later this week for the national team's final countdown to the FIFA Women's World Cup in the US. The Australian women's team left Sydney last night for China where they will play two internationals against the world No.4 ranked hosts. World No.15 Australia will then play internationals in England, Scotland and Canada before arriving in Los Angeles just six days before their World Cup opener with Russia on September 21. Australia's other Group D matches are against China in LA on September 25 and Ghana in Portland on September 28. The Matildas will be boosted by the form of Golebiowski who started for Washington in the WUSA final played in front of more than 7000 fans. A WUSA championship on debut in the world's premier women's soccer tournament was an apt reward for Golebiowski who sacrificed Australian duty to chime into all 19 season matches for Washington. Golebiowski became the second Australian to play in a WUSA final and the third to be part of a championship-winning squad. Julie Murray helped the San Jose CyberRays to the inaugural WUSA title of 2001 with an MVP performance while fellow Aussie Dianne Alagich was forced to watch her CyberRays team-mates from the sidelines following a knee reconstruction. It was the first WUSA title for the Washington Freedom. US Team striker Abby Wambach was the heroine for Washington, clinching the golden goal six minutes into extra-time after opening the scoring in the seventh minute. Original Article can be found here: http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,7070134%255E23215,00.html |