Waltzing Matildas
I write this with a sore throat and an inability to fully string sentences together, such is the bacterial infection my respiratory system is fighting. However, there’s one thing that was able to get my voice up and about more so than any antibiotic could: cheering on for the Matildas.
Last night’s defeat to England was a shame. Simply put, we just were not good enough on the night. We didn’t take our chances. We were unfocused and sloppy. We didn’t attack with any vigour and dare and we allowed the English to bully us and dictate the match. But make no mistake, I and the entire nation are so proud of what the Matildas have achieved in this World Cup.
Our first foray into a semi-final for any World Cup — men or women — cannot be scoffed at. For a nation where football would be maybe top five as far as a national sport is concerned (it’s hard to ignore cricket, Aussie rules, rugby, and even swimming and possibly tennis), for our girls to have one-upped the men and made it within striking distance of a world cup final on home soil is no easy feat. To lose to a strong nation in England is commendable, whilst even knocking out the likes of France along the way. There is no shame in that. By any metric, the world cup was a success on the field for the Matildas.
I’d like to move away from the on-field performance in this piece, though. Sure, much can be said about the tiredness of the players, the mistakes leading to Englands second and third goals, and the missed chances when the scores were level — but I’ll leave that to the pundits and analysts of the beautiful game. Instead, I would love to focus on just what these Matildas have done for football and sport in this country, for boys and girls, and heck, what they’ve done for this country as a whole.
My generation grew up with the Socceroos’ golden generation of the 2000s. This generation’s peak was of course the qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where we narrowly lost to Italy in the last 16. I remember that tournament and the build up towards it. Everyone in Australia was a football fan, and momentum ensued. Fans began to support their local teams in the A-league, on top of clubs in Europe. Football suddenly wasn’t just “wogball”, played by immigrants to Australia. Football was for everyone. Parents started to sign their kids up to participate in kids’ football, even if they were and still are paying extortionate prices (its own issue, to be fair). This avalanche effect from that golden generation of the likes of Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, and Tim Cahill, led to the consistent performances of the Soccerroos in proceeding years — including consistently qualifying for World Cups and competing in Asian Cups. That Socceroos team that again made the Round of 16 in 2022 in Qatar, barely losing to eventual champions Argentina, were a team who would’ve grown up inspired by the 2006 team.
This is exactly what makes this Matildas team so special. Women’s football has grown exponentially over the last decade, to a point where they now get paid relatively lucrative contracts all things considered, and are now even presented alongside the male superstars in ad campaigns for sponsors (see Sam Kerr being a face of Nike alongside Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo). Before this explosion, though, our ladies didn’t have a generation to be inspired by along their recent journey. Instead, they are the inspiration. They are and will be the role models for young girls for years to come. Once upon a time, our Matildas were playing in front of crowds of 300 people. Last night’s game against England recorded an attendance of approximately 75,000 people. For context, this is roughly the capacity of Manchester United’s Old Trafford, one of the most famous grounds in the world. Australia’s Channel 7 are reporting that over 11 million viewers tuned in to watch the match — that’s nearly half of the country — and shatters any viewership records in Australian history for a sporting event. Only royal weddings and funerals get those sorts of numbers here. Never in my life would I have ever thought I’d see the day where the Matildas, and woman’s football for that matter, would get these sorts of numbers. Yet, here I am, and I am so proud of them.
In fact, I never would have thought my non-football watching friends were going to bet getting up for the Matildas, screaming for every goal and ruing for every missed chance, yet here I am. I never would have even thought that the AFL would delay their broadcast to allow the Matildas’ shootout against France to be played on Channel 7, yet here I am. I know Sam Kerr is a household name, but never would I have thought that Mary Fowler, Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso, Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry, and many others, would join Kerr in her levels of fame, yet here I am, here I am seeing their profiles skyrocket — and with them — the profile of women’s football and football as a whole in this country.
If the Socceroos and men’s football now stands on the shoulders of giants before them, the likes of the 2006 Golden Generation, Les Murray, and Johnny Warren, then the Matildas are indeed those giants for the next generations to come. They are the trailblazers. No one before them could have inspired them due to so many obstacles and roadblocks in their way, but they blazed the trail for so many young girls to follow them. Young girls in Australia now have a whole team to look up to. Young girls across the country can now say they can have women to idolise, whose names they can wear on the backs of their shirts. Sam Kerr’s #20, Mary Fowler’s #11 — you love to see it.
And, lastly, as an Australian who’s seen so much polarisation in this country over the last few years — thank you, Matildas, for uniting this country in a way I have not seen since the bushfires during the summer of 2020. In the years since, with talks of COVID, lockdowns, vaccines, and elections, driving people further and further away and causing so much tension and animosity among fellow Australians, you’ve given us all hope and given us all something to rally behind. It’s been a hot minute since national pride was this strong among Australians, and all it took was exceptional women setting an example for us all. It’s been a long time since something positive brought the country together, so thank you kindly. Your efforts will not be in vain.
Matildas, though it wasn’t meant to be, you’ve done us all proud. There goes our Waltzing Matildas.
