Matildas on a quest for lasting legacy beyond winning a home World Cup
The first time Emily van Egmond played football for Australia, nobody bothered counting the number of people watching. It was a friendly against North Korea at Ballymore in 2010, and although the national team midfielder reckons there were “maybe a couple of thousand” people in attendance, nobody knows for sure because, after all, who really cared?
These were fringe players in a fringe team in a fringe sport. Stores were not selling out of replica Matildas jerseys because there were no replica Matildas jerseys. Australia won 3-2 and a national holiday was not declared.
Indeed it was relatively recently that many of the women now preparing to face England in the biggest football game seen on Australian soil were working second jobs to supplement their tiny retainer contracts. Caitlin Foord drove an Uber around Wollongong. Katrina Gorry helped out at a school.
Alanna Kennedy worked in Pizza Hut. The idea of playing in front of millions had not yet occurred to them, let alone being blazoned on billboards and buses across the country.
And so when Australia and England step out at Stadium Australia on Wednesday to play their World Cup semi-final it will be a vaguely concussive moment for many of the players involved, a time for sharp intakes of breath, a time to feel just a little overwhelmed.
From the Olympic Park to the outback, Australia will grind to a halt for a little over two hours. Pub quizzes, theatre shows and even grassroots football games have been cancelled in anticipation. The Australian men’s basketball team have rescheduled an international against Brazil so they can watch.
How we reached this point is a question with both a long and a short answer. The short answer is that in just a few weeks the Matildas
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