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Only hours after being grand final rivals, Illawarra duo Caitlin Foord and Michelle Heyman were united in the Matildas' World Cup cause.
It was a valuable pick-me-up for Foord, who announced herself to the world as young player of the tournament at the last international gathering in Germany in 2011.
After losing just two games all season, Lake Illawarra's Foord and Perth Glory suffered grand final defeat at the hands of Heyman's Canberra United, who pulled off a stunning 3-1 upset.
Shellharbour's Heyman, 26, has been on the fringes of the Australian squad for the past couple of years, but is one of three Canberra players to book a place to Canada next year as part of the Matildas squad.
Her teammate and W-League grand final hero Ash Sykes has been challenged to continue her big-game exploits and break into the Matildas' exciting forward line at next year's World Cup.
While Australian coach Alen Stajcic could only find room for three victorious Canberra United players in his preliminary 32-woman Cup squad announced on Monday, fringe striker Sykes is now pressing for a starting place.
Her two goals in three minutes late in Canberra's 3-1 triumph over favourites Perth Glory on Sunday followed on from a best-on-ground display in last week's semi-final.
"Ash has really put her hand up over the last two weeks to be in contention," Stajcic said.
"Being man of the match in two finals games in a row is pretty rare, so she showed that on a big occasion she might be able to add value to our national team."
But Stajcic stressed the 23-year-old, who has four international caps, has her work cut out to push out the likes of Lisa de Vanna, Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Kate Gill, Leena Khamis and others.
"It's the position on the field where we have the most quality and depth and to get into that starting line-up you have to be better than those," he said. "There's six or seven players fighting it out for two or three spots."
Kerr, Khamis and first-choice goalkeeper Lydia Williams were all left out of the extended squad due to injury but will be at the four-day camp when the Matildas gather in Canberra on January 12.
The squad - with just four Perth Glory stars - is dominated by the players Stajcic took to this year's Asian Cup where Australia fell 1-0 to Japan in the final in Vietnam.
A place wasn't found for dual international Ellyse Perry, whose World Cup hopes appear dashed after she had only fleeting opportunities with Sydney FC this season.
Stajcic said overlooked players could still play their way into contention but admitted it would be tough.
He stressed there would be no complacency, with the Matildas drawn in the difficult Group D with world No 1 United States, Sweden and Nigeria.
"There is a balance of youth and experience in the squad and it will be a good starting point for our intense preparation period." AAP