‘See how much she offered’: Poms’ big Kerr fear as Tillies ‘punching above’ — UK View

For the first time ever, England and Australia will meet in a FIFA World Cup match, both men’s and women’s.

The rivalry between the two nations is one filled with rich history across several sports.

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But no meeting has ever had quite the hype, pressure and expectation that the Matildas’ semi final against the Lionesses on Wednesday night has, at least not since the 2003 Rugby World Cup final.

England are the bookies favourites going into the clash and it is hard to argue otherwise given they are the reigning European champions and have a stacked roster.

But the Matildas will have over 80,000 fans roaring them on to victory at Stadium Australia and millions more across the country.

There is always an underlying respect between Australia and England whenever they compete, but good-natured competitive banter is often art of the build-up.

Yet the verbal back-and-forth has been absent, at least for now.

In fact, the British press has been surprisingly complementary as they realise just how gripped our nation has become with the Matildas and the tournament as a whole.

“Here in Australia you can feel the hype is growing,” The Times’ Owen Slot wrote.

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“The minute that Australia’s penalty shootout nailbiter was over against France, you knew it was immediately going up another notch.”

The advantage that comes with playing in front of a nation is