Our heroes: Fresh face was Australia’s rock as Arnold stands tall — Matildas WC Ratings
It’s been an incredibly memorable World Cup for the Matildas.
Tony Gustavsson’s side went on to secure a fourth-place finish, the nation’s best performance at a men’s or women’s World Cup.
There were several standout performers across the seven games played in the month-long festival of football as the nation was introduced to a number of new sporting heroes.
Foxsports.com.au takes a look at how every player performed across the tournament in the final World Cup Player Ratings!
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Mackenzie Arnold – 8.5, 5, 7, 7, 10, 6, 7 (ratings from each game; average rating 7.2)
Arnold has come so far in the space of 12 months that it’s almost hard to fathom.
A year ago she was the Matildas’ third-choice keeper, behind Lydia Williams and Teagan Micah.
But she was given another chance and this time grabbed it with both hands – like she grabbed shot after shot out of the air!
The highlight was her penalty heroics against France, which capped off one of the finest Australian goalkeeping performances of all time.
Consistent from the first minute to the last, Arnold rescued the Matildas more times than we’d like to recount and played a crucial role in racking up the clean sheets.
OUR RATING: 8
Steph Catley – 7, 5, 9, 7, 7, 4.5, 5.5 (Average rating 6.4)
The vice-captain has always been well-regarded for her leadership qualities.
But with Sam Kerr missing, she donned the armband for the first three group games and led the Aussies with fire and ice in equal measure.
Kerr labelled her a ‘born leader’ and said the pair ‘share’ the captaincy – and while Kerr might
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