Melissa Barbieri

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Melissa Barbieri
Personal information
Date of birth January 20, 1980 (1980-01-20) (age 28)
Place of birth   
Height 1.68m
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Richmond SC
National team2
Australia 52


2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 23 September 2007.
* Appearances (Goals)

Melissa Anne Barbieri was born on 20 January 1980 and is the current Australian Women's National Football (soccer) goalkeeper.

Her height is 168 cm, weight is 64 kg, and before 2007 World Cup she played 48 games for Australia.

At 1.68m tall, her height has been questioned in her position at goalkeeper. This was exposed in the 2007 Women's World Cup in China where she was lobbed on her line in Australia'a knock-out loss against Brazil, although has aptly proven herself as a shot-stopper.

She is a scholarshipholder with the Victorian Institute of Sport.[1] Barbieri currently plays for the Richmond Eagles, a mens team in the Victorian Premier League. In 2007, she made history when she became the first Australian woman to play in a professional men's football team.[1] In 2008, she was approached by the US football team, the Boston Renegades.[2] However, the Boston management eventually pursued this no further for this year, due to Barbieri's committments to the Australian national team.[3]

[edit] Career highlights

  • 2007 Qualified for FIFA Women's World Cup
  • 2006 2nd at the AFC Women's Asian Cup
  • 2005 Four Nations Tour
  • 2004 1st at the Oceania Football Confederation Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
  • 2004 2nd at the 6th Australia Cup (Brisbane)
  • 2004 Competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens
  • 2003 13th at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
  • 2003 Pre-World Cup Tour (China, Great Britain, Canada)
  • 2003 2nd at the 3-Nations International Tournament in Japan
  • 2003 2nd at the Australia Cup
  • 2003 Gained Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship
  • 2002 Canada Series
  • 2002 2nd at the US Nike Cup (international debut vs. Canada with a clean sheet)
  • 2001 First national camp as a goal keeper
  • 2000 Switched to goal keeper position
  • 1997 Selected for a national camp as a midfielder

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Barbieri set to break the code. AAP/Sydney Morning Herald (3 March 2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  2. ^ Ritson, John (1 April 2008). Boston Mad For Barbs. FourFourTwo. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  3. ^ Cheng, Peng (18 April 2008). Interview With Melissa Barbieri. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
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