Matildas striker Michelle Heyman is hoping to resurrect her international career in Adelaide
MICHELLE Heyman is the most important signing Adelaide United’s W-League side has snared since Matildas captain Melissa Barbieri resurrected her international career in SA under ex boss Ross Aloisi.
MICHELLE Heyman is the most important signing Adelaide United’s W-League side has snared since Matildas captain Melissa Barbieri resurrected her international career in SA under then-boss Ross Aloisi.
Three years on from Barbieri winning her spot back in the Matildas at the FIFA women’s World Cup in Canada, Heyman, a teammate of the 2014 W-League goalkeeper of the year in that tournament, is also aiming to re-launch her international status.
With next year’s FIFA World Cup in France a definitive Heyman goal, the W-League’s all-time leading goalscorer with 62 to her name, arrived in Adelaide last week ready for a gruelling preseason under boss Ivan Karlovic.
Capped 60 times, Heyman has scored 20 goals for Australia but her recent international form has been hampered by a troublesome knee which she hopes is now corrected by surgery in the off season.
“Ivan definitely helped me make my decision,’’ Heyman said after penning a one-season deal with Adelaide in August.
“After the Matildas I was a little bit injured in June and I just wasn’t sure where my career was going.
“I had been chatting with Ivan for about two to three months about my stay in Adelaide and in joining the team.
“He is definitely a great coach and I’m excited by Adelaide.
“I needed to get a little bit of a clean out on my knee, there was a little crack on my knee cap and also my cartilage.
“I was in a bit of pain that’s why I didn’t play in Jordan with the Matildas (at the AFC women’s Asian Cup in April) but it was time to finally take myself away from the game and fix myself mentally and physically.
“It was the best thing for me and now it’s getting my fitness back up and getting into the swing of things.”
Heyman featured 93 times for Canberra United since 2010 and scored 51 goals before joining the Reds.
She won a championship and three premierships with the W-League powerhouse, claimed the competition’s golden boot twice and is hoping to jag more rewards with Adelaide.
“I want to be a mentor, I want to be the one that can help the young players because Adelaide always has a young team,’’ she said.
Heyman, 30, earned her first call up with the Matildas in 2010 before cementing a spot with the side less than a year later after answering an SOS.
She replaced now revered forward Sam Kerr who was injured just before 2012 Olympic Games qualifying matches in Jinan, China under former coach Tom Sermanni.
Adelaide faces Melbourne Victory away in the opening round on October 28.