| Growing up in Melbourne, Barbieri began playing football regularly from the age of 14 as a left sided player.
In 2002, Barbieri suffered a near career ending back injury. Unable to continue as an outfield player Barbieri, moved into the goals and quickly asserted herself as the Westfield Matildas number one goalkeeper.
In 2006 ‘Bubs’, as she is affectionately known, became the first female player to appear in a men’s professional competition when she began playing for Richmond Eagles FC. Since making her Westfield Matildas debut in 2002 Barbieri has won 73 caps for her country. Barbieri took over the captaincy vacated by Cheryl Salisbury (retired 2009) in 2010 when the Westfield Matildas resumed their program following nearly 12 months without a match.
Since then Barbieri has a near-perfect record as captain and was the first Australian to lift the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in May 2010. In 2011 Melissa lead her team out at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany where the team reached the quarter finals for the second consecutive tournament before being knocked out by Sweden.
Melissa played in 3 of the 4 matches at the World Cup including the team’s thrilling 2-1 win over Norway. |