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Jan 01, 2024

A nation united as Matildas lock in another week

A packed stadium, millions glued to TV, and all focused on willing Australia’s women to the knockout phase of the Women’s World Cup Some things have the power to truly unite a nation. People lost down

A packed stadium, millions glued to TV, and all focused on willing Australia’s women to the knockout phase of the Women’s World Cup

Some things have the power to truly unite a nation. People lost down mine shafts. A large weather system. The birth of a rare, cute animal in a zoo.

At a home World Cup, with elimination looming large, Australians confirmed the discovery of another on Monday night. Millions watching on television. A full stadium in Melbourne. And all focused on one thing.

The merits of VAR.

That, yes. But also … the mighty Matildas – queens of the continent – have become Australia’s main attraction.

This Women’s World Cup has sold more tickets than any before it. The group stage has enraptured a nation that has traditionally been apathetic to what many locals dub soccer. It has ignited demands for greater free-to-air television coverage of football in Australia. And it’s all been engineered by the country’s national football side for women, not men.

The stakes, therefore, are high. For the Australian team to go out early, it represents a devastating missed opportunity. For women, for football, for those irresistible forces that bring people together. At the famous water cooler. On buses and trains. At aged care homes, hospitals, building sites, and child care centres.

Women’s sport is often seen as the gentler, more family-friendly version of the men’s equivalent. The WBBL cricket league markets itself as exactly that. So it was significant that the voices reverberating around the Matildas’ match against Canada challenged even the noisiest of men’s football derbies. The only disappointment was the match wasn’t at a larger venue. But if a line outside tells you where you should eat, it’s clear the Matildas are cooking.

Attendances at Australian matches have been the most obvious example of the tournament’s popularity. More than 150,000 fans have watched the Matildas’ group games. Yet they are by no means its only drawcard. A columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald dubbed Columbia’s fabulous victory over Germany on Sunday as “the most exciting sporting and cultural event I have attended anywhere in years”. Some ticket sales in New Zealand have been described as slow, but attendances in general have surpassed expectations. More than 1.5 million tickets have been sold, and matches up until Monday had utilised 84 per cent of stadium capacity.

Despite a positive opening, the elimination of New Zealand by goal difference on Sunday did shred one sail on the good ship World Cup. The world number 26 Football Ferns were far from favourites to progress to the knockout rounds. But after an opening match victory against Norway, the failure of Jitka Klimkova’s side to finish the job was unquestionably a blow to the tournament’s appeal.

Yet New Zealand were always the minor co-host. When the draw was released, the Kiwis were given responsibility for just five of the 16 knockout matches. Following Thursday’s final group stage matches, the transplant of the tournament’s beating heart to Australia will be complete.

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After a 3-2 defeat to Nigeria in their second group match, the question on Monday was whether the Matildas’ campaign still had a pulse. No host might have been knocked out of a World Cup before the quarterfinals up until 2023, but a defeat or even a draw for Australia meant elimination of two in two days. A victory, and progress to the round of 16, would have satisfied most Australian observers going into the match. A draw in the other game between Nigeria and Australia, handing the Matildas top place in the group, would have been a bonus.

The spectacular 4-0 victory against the Olympic champions, together with Nigeria’s 0-0 result, was beyond even an optimistic fan’s wildest expectations. This was the largest ever win by an Australian team at a football World Cup. They delivered when the pressure was greatest, the very time the moment called. And they did it without their best player, Sam Kerr, who remains injured.

The only sour note was the role of the video assistant referee. VAR overruled an assistant referee’s flag for the first goal, then erased a gleeful Mary Fowler strike midway through the first half. It also handed the Matildas a late penalty just about nobody asked for. Yes, technological aids have no doubt prevented a moment of football injustice here and there. Yet the delay and confusion that comes with VAR robs the game of spontaneous expression. The faces of confused fans suggest the balance is still off.

Fortunately, the brilliance of the Matildas’ performance and magnitude of the moment mattered more. In just three games, the Matildas have welcomed expectations and faced adversity. They have failed, if briefly. They have overcome pressure and discovered their brilliance. These women are writing compelling chapters in a promising story. The ongoing mystery about Sam Kerr’s calf only adds another twist.

These threads draw Australia tighter and tighter, the longer the Matildas’ run goes on. Those chats at the water cooler? They’re booked out for another week.