If the Matildas are overawed at going further than the team ever has before, they are doing a good job of concealing it. When veteran duo Tameka Yallop and Lydia Williams faced the press on Monday, it was business as usual – the content of their answers may have betrayed the significance of the moment, but there was nothing in its delivery that suggested anything out of the ordinary. Unimportant friendly or the biggest game in Matildas history? It was hard to say from the pair’s composure, body language and demeanour.
It was more of the same 24 hours out from Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against England. Coach Tony Gustavsson was his usual affable self, ever-friendly, ever-willing to indulge questioning, eyes lighting up when a more tactical query was lobbed his way. Mackenzie Arnold, fresh from her starring role in the quarter-final win over France, was sticking to script and keeping her remarks brief – she is a woman of few words at the best of times.
“It’s just another game for us,” said the goalkeeper. Arnold’s steeliness was all the more remarkable given the events of Saturday night, when the Matildas defeated France on penalties in one of the most memorable wins in Australian football history. The wild scenes following the shootout success were matched only by John Aloisi’s famous penalty in 2005 that saw the Socceroos through to the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1974. The similarity between photos of players celebrating ecstatically, at the same stadium almost two decades apart, was uncanny.
The Matildas had gone to the highest high but are now back on earth, facing forward, eyes on the prize. Arnold reached for a mantra that has been frequently deployed by the Matildas throughout this tournament. “We’ve been taking it one day at a time and it seems to be working for us so far,” she said. Will it also take them past England and into the World Cup final?
Following the Matildas’ opening match of the tournament, a nervy win against Ireland, a journalist commented to Gustavsson that it was a case of one down, six to go. Almost a month later, the equation has become more favourable. Five down, two to go. But in that time, the ground around them seems to have shifted as the Matildas have captivated an entire nation.
The levels of excitement, already at unimaginable proportions, have gone stratospheric. Premiers are arguing over public holidays and investment in women’s sport. Matildas merchandise has become harder to source than a Taylor Swift ticket, and it was standing room only at the pre-match press conference. “We need a bigger room I think,” Gustavsson said. The quarter-final win took the Matildas to base camp and there are just two peaks remaining for the team to scale their own Everest.
But the World Cup is not the only mountain for women’s football to climb in Australia. Whatever the outcome against England, the Matildas have already done more than enough. Arnold recognised as much on Tuesday. “The legacy we wanted to leave throughout this World Cup to inspire a generation, we have done more than that,” she said. But there is a bigger picture at play – and questions of whether the Matildas’ success on the pitch will translate into sustainable long-term growth.
It was a theme that piqued Gustavsson’s interest on Tuesday. A day out from this crunch match, the coach’s mind was already wandering further afield. It arose in the context of queries about the rapid growth of the Women’s Super League in England and the benefits this has had for the England squads. As is Gustavsson’s style, he reeled off some data about the composition of the Lionesses and the apparent favourite status they hold ahead of the semi-final.
“So if you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game,” he said. “But the one thing that we have that they don’t have is the support and belief from the fans. That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow.”
On Wednesday, that support may be enough to get the Matildas over the line. But if they are to return to these lofty heights in World Cups to come, if this unprecedented success is to become just precedented, the support of 75,000 fans at Stadium Australia and record-breaking television audiences need to translate into sustainable interest, funding and media coverage.
Gustavsson suggested that England may be “a little bit further ahead” in investing in the women’s game. He pointed to the English Football Association’s budget for the women’s game, which is, he said, the same as the entire budget for all national teams at Football Australia. “That says a lot about the resources and the money that they have,” he said.
More money means better facilities, better development, more support staff and ultimately more players at all levels of the sport. “We’re at the beginning of that journey,” Gustavsson said. “And I hope to sit here in 10 or 20 years from now and say this was a crossroads moment when it comes to investment in women’s football, and we can have the same resources and the same money as well.”
For now, the Matildas are staying calm, focused – one game at a time, one game at a time. But every step forward in this World Cup raises the stakes for everyone else – the opportunities to turn this historic run into something that endures, and the risks the barriers that have hindered the round ball game in Australia for decades reappear after the tournament is over.
That is the paradox of this rare moment – 90 minutes in the foreground and decades of growth on the horizon. A game of football, and so much more, all hanging in the balance. And the Matildas waiting, seemingly unfazed, for another chance to rise to the moment.
