Tal Karp

Personal Details Date of Birth: 30 December 1981 Place of Birth: Perth, Western Australia Height: Position: Midfield / Defence Club Summary Club Games Goals Maccabi (junior) Balcatta (junior) Inglewood Kiev (1993) Perth Italia (1994-1996) Canberra Eclipse (1996/97) Adelaide Sensation (1997/98) Canberra Eclipse (1999-2004) Western Waves (2004) 6 0 Ashburton (2007) Box Hill Inter (2008) Melbourne Victory (2008-2010) 20 1 Box Hill Inter (2010) Bundoora United (2011) Total International Summary Games Goals Australia 'A' (2001-2004) 27 2 Australia 'B' (2004) 5 0 Australia Under-19 (1998) Australia Schoolgirls (1997) Australia Under-16 (1996)

© Australian Sports Commission

Career Brief

Tal Karp began her football journey at an early age, filling in for her brother's team when they didn't have enough players and continuing in the top boys leagues until the age of 17. A State Under-16 call-up resulted in Karp being voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 national championship and a spot in the Australian Under-16 squad. Her starring role for the State Schoolgirls twelve months later was rewarded with further nationals honours on the Schoolgirls December 1997 tour of New Zealand and the United States of America.

By that stage Karp already had a season of national league football under her belt, the midfielder scoring on debut for Canberra Eclipse in December 1996. A spell with Adelaide Sensation resulted in Australia Under-19 honours, after which she re-joined Canberra. Karp played a key role in Canberra finishing top of the table in 1998/99 only to lose the Grand Final to former club Adelaide. That was reversed in 2001/02 when Canberra lifted the trophy after defeating a previously unbeaten New South Wales Sapphires in the season finale.

Karp's first senior appearances for Australia were against Canada in September 2002 as part of the Matildas tour of North America, during which she also featured against the United States of America, Russia and Italy at the Nike US Women's Cup. Further outings with South Korea, Mexico and Sweden followed in early 2003 ahead of World Cup qualifying wins over the Cook Islands and New Zealand. Karp was a regular in the middle of the park as the Matildas preprared for the 2003 Women's World Cup where she started all three games, with Russia, China and Ghana.

2004 opened with friendly appearances against New Zealand and China, and an Olympic Games qualifying outing with Papua New Guinea. In the lead-up to the Athens Olympic Games Karp was used regularly off the bench with a July appearance against the United States of America turning out to be her international swansong. In Greece, Australia progressed to the quarter-finals before being edged out by Sweden with Karp watching all four games from the bench.

On returning to club football Karp chose to wear Western Waves colours, playing every minute of her hometown clubs' first ever foray into the national arena. Time in the Victorian State League with Ashburton and Box Hill Inter followed as the women's national league in Australia went into hiatus. For the launch of the W-League in October 2008 Karp was handed the captain's armband of Melbourne Victory, leading the side into the first two seasons of the fledgling competition. Karp retired from first class football in 2010, returning to the State League with Box Hill and Bundoora United as her focused turned towards a career in law.

Matildas Game by Game

An enternal 'thank you' to Andrew Howe for his invaluable assistance with the compilation of game statistics.

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