Matildas out to leave their own marks

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If the Matildas had looked up from the stage as they were presented with their World Cup jerseys at Federation Square on Tuesday, they would have seen on the canopy scorch marks left by flares as fans rejoiced with the Socceroos on those giddy World Cup nights last November. Talk about making a mark.

Now it is the Matildas’ turn to burn, hopefully, and unlike the Socceroos, they will be in the flesh, in familiar environments and enjoying favour wherever they go. “The fact that they’re playing at home probably ranks it as high, if not higher, than my experiences playing world cups,” said Socceroos games record-holder, now Fox pundit and fan, Mark Schwarzer, “because I played away, never in Australia.

“The expectations go through the roof, the pressure goes through the roof. But the opportunity to play a World Cup in your own backyard is something incredibly unique. Very, very few players ever get that chance.”

Australian soccer’s games record-holder outright is Clare Polkinghorne, who is on the eve of her fifth World Cup. It was to her that Schwarzer directed a question about the growth of the women’s game, as evinced by perhaps 3000 people at Fed Square this brisk afternoon, by an expected sell-out crowd for Friday night’s warm-up against France at Marvel Stadium and by a million pre-sold tickets for the tournament proper.

“I remember playing on home soil at the start of my career and we’d be lucky to get a few hundred people at the game,” Polkinghorne said. “To see all these people out there now, it continues to keep growing.” She said she had hoped for the growth, but was taken by surprise by the recent speed of it. “It’s been pretty crazy,” she said.

Federal Minister for Sport Anika Wells looked out from the stage and saw a big picture in green and gold. One of the goals of this World Cup, she said, was “to ensure that nation-stopping moments such as this one are no longer seen just through a male lens”.

Matildas fans get in on the act.Credit: Getty Images.

But first things first. In a cute twist in Tuesday’s ritual, all 23 Matildas were presented with their jerseys by young women and girls named Matilda, from all over the country. Naturally, the crowd hung on every word of captain and global superstar Sam Kerr.

“I’m really excited to kind of rep – well not kind of – to represent Australia on home soil and show what Aussie spirit is about,” Kerr said. “We see every one of you. We see the shirts, the signs, the messages. We see it all. We’re going to be right in this World Cup. Pack the stadiums, wear your green and gold and we’ll do everything we can to make you guys proud.”

But how? Worldwide competition has grown fiercer since the Matildas first emerged into the broader national consciousness and wormed their way into the nation’s heart. Nothing will come easily. “We’re always going to be – sorry for the expression – an in-your-face kind of team no matter who we’re playing,” coach Tony Gustavsson said. The crowd told him that no apology was necessary.

Sports Minister Anika Wells.Credit: Getty Images

“We’re going to use Aussie spirit, and high-pressing game and attack,” he said. “It might cost a goal or two, but then we’ll need to score more.” It makes Bazball sound tame.

Home for Australian footballers is by default far from home, but when the Matildas do convene in this country now, it is at a specialised facility at La Trobe University, thanks to a deal done between Football Australia and the Victorian government,

Gustavsson, a Swede who has coached the Matildas for three years, has learned his lines well. He said he was enthralled by the people of Melbourne, the street art and, of course, the coffee. “I’ve fallen in love with the city,” he said. That was worth an extra cheer.

Steph Catley, from East Bentleigh via Arsenal in England’s Women’s Super League, revealed what might also be thought of as a Melburnian predilection among the Matildas. “Ninety per cent have spaghetti bolognese the night before a game,” she said. “Our chef’s very, very busy then.” In the absence of a state or national dish, spag bol serves as well as any other.

It’s not true that the mind of Football Australia CEO James Johnson wandered to another Melbourne landmark as he watched the World Cup spell fall over Fed Square because The Age took him directly there. Did he think about how even more blockbusting Friday night and the rest of the World Cup might be if the MCG was available?

Fans light flares in Fed Square during the men’s 2023 World Cup.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Johnson was diplomatic. “It didn’t work out at the time with the match schedule for the AFL,” he said. You can draw your own conclusions about “work”.

“We’d like to see another rectangular stadium in Melbourne, simply because it’s better for spectators,” Johnson said. “But having said that, the MCG is on the global map.”

From Friday night, so are the Matildas.

The Matildas pose with their World Cup jerseys at Federation Square.Credit: Getty Images

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