Joke's on the opposition

June 23rd, 2010

Budding soccer stars may soon be compiling a collection of jokes for their next campaign.

Lower Templestowe-raised national team captain, Melissa Barbieri revealed a surprising secret to her success between the posts in China recently.

The Matildas won the Asian Cup in Chengdu last month after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win against North Korea in the final.

The win gave Australian soccer its first title, men’s or women’s, since moving into Asia from Oceania.

So, just how did Barbieri keep her cool during the high pressure of a shoot-out?

“My goalkeeper coach gave me some paper in plastic pockets,” the Matildas shot-stopper said.

“The other team would have thought they were striker information on which way they tend to go and would assume I was looking at notes.

“Really, they had jokes on them to make me relax.”

Barbieri said, with her Italian background, she grew up watching the World Cup and countless international soccer finals.

She started playing at the age of eight and wasn’t deterred when officials no longer allowed to her play in the boys’ side, instead signing-up for a girls team when she was 14.

“Growing up, all I wanted to be was an Australian football member and to wear the team jumper,” she said.

“To be selected to lead the team was a huge honour.”

Barbieri is now looking towards matches in North Korea and Germany later this year and the World Cup in Germany next year.

Source: http://manningham-leader.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/joke-s-on-the-opposition/