As a jubilant Spanish team and a weary, almost-there group of Brits board their flights for the long ride home, this unbelievable Women’s World Cup comes to an end.
It’s been nothing short of an exhilarating ride, not least for a nation who were lucky enough to witness it live (not to mention at appropriate viewing times), and who now seem to be thoroughly converted to the world game.
The Matildas’ heart-stopping run through the knockout stages did more than captivate a nation. It engulfed us. It brought us so closely together in a way nothing in any of our lifetimes has. Sport has that power, through its collective tribalism and soft patriotism.
Belting out the national anthem with 75,000 other people never felt so good.
But football is the only sport that can do it quite like this. Not just because of its immense international reach, but because at its fundamentals it is a devilishly easy game to grasp. Newcomers can sit in front of the telly and understand almost instinctively what is happening. No hands. Ball in net. There doesn’t exist the chaos of AFL, the attrition of cricket or the many rules of rugby.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images )
The Matildas embraced this by playing in a manner that Australians felt connected to. A counter-attacking, underdog style of play that inherently sings to the ‘Aussie battler’ ethos we know so well when it comes to our sporting culture.
Throughout the knockout stages they were matched up against sides that are ranked higher, have won more and enjoy far more investment in football than Australia, but they held their nerve and rode on the back of the kind of support all teams dream of.
When they faced England, they came up against a side that hail from a country where football is woven into the national identity, and they took it to them for 90 minutes.
There is so much to be proud of what the Tillies have achieved. There is a whole generation of young girls who have just witnessed the remarkable, and come next winter local parks will be full of the future stars, trying their best to emulate Sam Kerr’s stunning goal against England. That in itself is a win for the country.
But we mustn’t let this moment pass us by. The Tillies may have fallen just before the last, but let’s make sure that it isn’t the last time we support them.
In October and November, our national football team will play three games in Perth as they seek to earn qualification for next year’s Olympics. Assuming they do, that tournament will be another chance for the Matildas to prove themselves on the world stage.
Western Australians, don’t hang up your scarves or toss your beanies – get down to those games and bring that support we’ve shown them over the past month.
After that there will be more, of course. More cups and tournaments, more Olympics and friendlies. More chances for us to show that this wasn’t a one-off.
A lot of the Matildas play in European and American leagues, which are just as easy to watch as the men’s leagues. The next crop of superstars will be kicking off the A-League Women season later this year, and tickets and memberships are far more affordable than the men’s.
We have a duty now to ensure that this groundswell of public opinion doesn’t fade away into legend. No doubt we’ll be talking about this World Cup for decades to come, but the conversation can just as easily turn toward politicians and organisations providing the funding and opportunity to take the Tillies to the pinnacle of football.
Then, of course, will come the next World Cup. The location is expected to be in Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands in 2027.
When it rolls around, why not book your Europe trip to coincide with the tournament? Grab your green and gold and shout as loudly as you did this winter. The team will be largely the same, their chances of winning only enhanced by the confidence they will have gained this year.
The Matildas need us to keep showing them how much we appreciate what they do. See you in October.
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What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
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