Poletti 
Claudia Jenkins makes a save from Sheridan Gallagher during the Round Five A-League Women match between Adelaide United and Newcastle Jets at ServiceFM Stadium. Photo: Maya Thompson/Getty Images. Supplied by Adelaide United.
Adelaide United goalkeeper Claudia Jenkins could make her debut for the Football Ferns during the upcoming FIFA international window, with New Zealand set to play Chinese Taipei on April 8.
On Thursday, Jenkins announced her intentions to play for the Football Ferns, and has been rewarded with her first call-up to New Zealand’s national side off the back of her domestic form, along with Alina Santos who currently plays for the University of Denver in the US college system.
Having started every game for United this season, Jenkins, one of seven A-League Women players to be called-up, has been one of the best shot-stoppers in the competition this season.
Jenkins said she was incredibly honoured to receive the call-up.
“It means so much to me and my family. The Jenkins name has always been proud of its Kiwi roots, so this is a really special moment for us all,” she said.
“I’m extremely grateful to Adelaide United for their support throughout my journey—my coaches, teammates, and everyone at the Club have played a huge role in helping me get to this point. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and will give everything I have to make the most of the experience.”
Interim coach Michael Mayne said he was keen to continue the work started during the unbeaten tour in Costa Rica last month after implementing a new playing style on the field, and a change in approach off the pitch.
“I want to approach this tour with a drive towards refining some of the details within our system, and with a training game behind closed doors first, it gives us the perfect opportunity to try a couple of new things as we prepare for the [game] against Chinese Taipei on 8 April.
“Our objective remains the same and that is to assess the strength of our squad, and build the competition within this team, so that come the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, should we qualify, we are in the best place to perform.
“Having seen the benefits of our approach against Costa Rica, and the energy and alignment of the team there, I felt a reasonable amount of consistency was important, especially with the windows so close together.
“I’m looking forward to continuing our work to build a new and exciting performance culture, as well as getting another opportunity early in this new cycle to revisit some players plus introduce a couple new faces.”
Mackenzie Barry, Geo Candy, Brianna Edwards, Macey Fraser, and Grace Jale, who were part of the squad assembled for the win and draw against Costa Rica last month, have not been selected for the upcoming window.
The full Football Ferns squad selected for the upcoming FIFA window
Liz Anton (21 caps), Hannah Blake (7 caps), Kelli Brown (2 caps), Claudia Bunge (33 caps), Milly Clegg (13 caps), Manaia Elliott (1 cap), Victoria Esson (26 caps), Michaela Foster (24 caps), Maya Hahn (2 caps), Jacqui Hand (33 caps), Claudia Jenkins (debut), Katie Kitching (16 caps), Annalie Longo (138 caps), Meikayla Moore (69 caps), Ruby Nathan (5 caps), Grace Neville (12 caps), Emma Pijnenburg (1 cap), Indiah-Paige Riley (29 caps), Jana Radosavljević (3 caps), Alina Santos (debut), Kate Taylor (23 caps), Grace Wisnewski (3 caps)
Listen to the latest episode of The Dubcast, Round Ball Australia’s Women’s Football podcast on Spotify, Apple, or watch on YouTube, with new episodes every Wednesday.