Matildas call on Caitlin Cooper

Until yesterday.

The Lake Illawarra resident received an email informing her she had been included in the Australian squad for this month’s series against New Zealand at WIN Stadium.

Cooper (pictured) has already achieved one of her career goals this year, winning the national competition with Canberra United, before returning home to play for the Illawarra Stingrays in the NSW Women’s Premier League.

She’d all but given up on playing for Australia, but now the 24-year-old has her foot firmly in the door, following the call-up by coach Tom Sermanni.

‘‘Everyone was asking me if I was going to make the team and I kept telling them ‘I don’t think I will’,’’ she said.

‘‘I wasn’t expecting it, but I certainly want to make the most of it now.’’

As a 16-year-old, Cooper made her Young Matildas debut in 2004 and has one cap for the Australian team against Hong Kong in 2007.

However, she dismisses the game as her international debut because it was a greatly reduced squad made up almost entirely of under 20 players.

She also played in two Women’s Under 19 World Cup tournaments, but was yet to take the step into the senior squad, until now.

As a result, the call-up means so much to her, especially as she will be playing in front of friends and family in Wollongong, with the Stingrays playing a curtain-raiser to the Australia-New Zealand clash on June 24.

The Matildas have several players committed to club football overseas, who are unavailable for the New Zealand games.

Cooper believes it is her chance to show she is up to playing at international level.

‘‘I’m certainly not expecting to start, but hopefully I will get some good game time,’’ she said.

‘‘I just want to focus on doing well in camp in the lead up to the game and then see what happens from there,’’ she said.