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Following the Matildas advancement to the Round of 16 at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Australian football has reached a high water mark, after the Socceroos did the same in Qatar late in 2022.
Despite a decent flock of naysayers continually citing problems in the Australian domestic game in terms of cost, development and opportunity for the best young talent in the land, the results on the international scene suggest Australia is doing a lot more right than wrong in terms of arming young men and women to take on the world.
The Socceroos achieved more than many expected in Qatar, losing to the eventual champions and earning a heck of a lot of respect along the way, as Graham Arnold presented a spirited group to a tournament in which the Australians have never done as well as they did in 2022.
The fact a majority of the playing group had A-League blood in their veins proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the domestic competition is capable of producing the talent required to challenge the world’s stars.
(Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
Nathaniel Atkinson, Kye Rowles, Awer Mabil, Andrew Redmayne, Aaron Mooy, Riley McGree, Cam Devlin and Craig Goodwin all cut their teeth in the A-League, along with many others in Graham Arnold’s squad.
Despite the painful lamenting of those still emotionally attached to the days of the supposed ‘Golden Generation’ the current Socceroos squad performed more statistically impressively at the World Cup than any before them.
The future looks even brighter and potentially ground breaking, with another wave of youngsters set to receive their caps and continue the Socceroos story in the near future.
In much the same way, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Cortnee Vine, Claire Hunt and Clare Wheeler have recently graduated from the local competition and joined the players now based abroad who were snapped up by European clubs cognisant of the talent being produced in Australia’s domestic league.
It is simply a stunning time to celebrate Australian football and one that has come off the back of a generation’s worth of time and money invested into our young players. Many of the current crop are part of the first group to have come through the national curriculum that was first published in 2009 and updated in 2013.
Many still scoff at the curriculum and it is far from perfect, yet the structure Australian football longed for was partly met with a document that provided some sense of universality and consistency, following decades of ad hoc methods that had fluked a few stars in the international game yet done little to provide the solid and sustainable base upon which future success could be built with confidence.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The Socceroos and Matildas in the knockout stages of their respective World Cups is that base and just as fans were disappointed at the men’s team’s departure from Qatar, feeling that more was possible, so too will the sentiment be if the women do not advance beyond the Round of 16 this coming Monday.
The national curriculum has served its purpose, despite its obvious limitations and bias, with another document now required to redefine what football looks like in Australia over the next 20 years. Only that type of vision will see our players continue to improve and the trajectory towards greater international success remain on target.
Right now, the major concern is seeing Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson find a way to settle his heart rate, trust his bench, and navigate a path into the quarter finals against what will likely be a frightfully scary opponent.
However, there should be no fear that the team will be overwhelmed in the knockout phase of the event. Despite the mediocrity we saw against Nigeria, the demolition of Canada suggests the women’s team is up for the fight and whilst not favourites for the title, is certainly well respected amongst international opposition.
The Socceroos are the same and we should all be proud of what our national teams are producing on the world stage, despite the fact government funding at grass roots level in no way matches that success.
Good luck Tillies and as one of only seventeen countries to have appeared at both the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2022 Men’s World Cup, Australian football supporters as a collective should feel proud.