Melissa Anne Barbieri (born 20 February 1980) is an Australian international football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who plays for Melbourne City in the A-League Women. She earned over 86 caps with the

Australia women's national soccer team The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) ...

and competed at four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments. Barbieri retired from international football in 2015. Barbieri was named W-League Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2008–09 and 2013–14 seasons.

Early life and education

Barbieri was a scholarship holder with the Victorian Institute of Sport.

Playing career

In her early career Barbieri was a midfielder until she was 20 years old, when a hamstring tendinitis injury required her to stop playing in the outfield. In September 2002 she made her debut for Australia in a game against Canada. Before the 2007 World Cup Barbieri played 54 games for Australia. She played for

Richmond SC Richmond Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club from Richmond, Victoria, an inner eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Richmond compete in the Victorian State League Division 1 South-East competition, the third tier of football in Victor ...

, becoming the first female to play in the Australian semi-professional men's league. After gaining experience in the men's league, Barbieri made her debut in goals for the Matildas in September 2002 in a 1–0 win against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2008, she was approached by the US football team, the

Boston Renegades Boston Renegades was an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2003. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the Northeast Divisi ...

. However, the Boston management eventually pursued this no further for the remainder of the season, due to Barbieri's commitments to the Australian national team. She signed for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

for the inaugural season of the Westfield W-League. Barbieri won the Goalkeeper of the year award in that season. On 19 February 2010, Barbieri was named captain of the Matildas following the 2009 retirement of Cheryl Salisbury. In May 2015, national

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Alen Stajcic Alen Stajcic (born 2 November 1973) is a former Australian soccer player and is the head coach of the Philippines women's national football team. While as a footballer he was a NSW Premier League player and an Australian Youth Representative. ...

surprisingly axed Brianna Davey from Australia's

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

squad, a decision criticised in many quarters, recalling resurgent veteran Barbieri for her fourth World Cup. In July 2016, Barbieri signed a deal to play one game as a guest for

Taroona Taroona is a major residential suburb approximately 15 minutes drive from the centre of Hobart, Tasmania on the scenic route between Hobart and Kingston. Although on the edges of the City of Hobart, Taroona is actually part of the municipality ...

in the Tasmanian Women's Super League. In November 2017, Barbieri came out of retirement to join Melbourne City on an injury replacement contract, after one of their goalkeepers Emily Shields broke her wrist.

Coaching career

Barbieri was appointed coach of

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

's women's team in October 2016. In July 2018, Barbieri was appointed as an assistant coach of the Melbourne City W-League team.

In popular culture

Barbieri was on the cover of the

Australian FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had e ...

Magazine along with fellow Matilda's

Thea Slatyer Thea Kay Slatyer (born 2 February 1983) is an Olympian, and former member of the Australia Women's National Football Team, The Matildas. She was an intimidating, no-nonsense defender similar to Manchester United's Vidic. Slatyer was a tough tack ...

Sam Kerr Samantha May Kerr (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a forward for Chelsea in the FA Women's Super League and the Australia women's national team (the ''Matildas''), which she has captained ...

Kyah Simon Kyah Pam Simon (born 25 June 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Tottenham Hotspur of the FA Women's Super League. In 2011, Simon became the first Indigenous Australian player to score a goal in a FI ...

and

Sarah Walsh Sarah Ann Walsh (born 11 January 1983) is a retired Australian soccer player who most recently captained Western Sydney Wanderers FC in Australia's W-League. She is a former member of the Australia women's national soccer team, the Matildas. ...

in June 2011.

Personal life

Barbieri gave birth to her first child, a girl, in 2013.

Career highlights

2013–14 W-League The 2013–14 W-League season was the sixth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. The season consisted of twelve matchdays followed by a finals series. The regular season started on 9 Novemb ...

keeper of the year award *2010 Qualified for FIFA Women's World Cup *2010 Captain the Matildas at the AFC Women's Asian Cup which they beat North Korea in penalties to win the competition *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

Honours

Country

; Australia *

OFC Women's Nations Cup The OFC Women's Nations Cup (previously known as the OFC Women's Championship) is a women's association football tournament for national teams who belong to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It was held every three years from 1983 to 1989. ...

: 2003 * AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2010 *

AFF Women's Championship The AFF Women's Championship is the competition in women's football organised by the ASEAN Football Federation, contested by the national teams of nations in Southeast Asia and Australia. The official tournament started in 2004, hosted by Vie ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Individual

* W-League Goalkeeper of the Year: 2008–09, 2013–14

References

External links

*
Football Federation Australia player profile

Melbourne Victory player profile

Victorian Institute of Sport profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbieri, Melissa Australian women's soccer players 1980 births Living people Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players Newcastle Jets FC (A-League Women) players Adelaide United FC (A-League Women) players Melbourne City FC (A-League Women) players Australian people of Italian descent Olympic soccer players of Australia Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Soccer players from Melbourne Australia women's international soccer players Women's association football goalkeepers