They dominated possession, chances, shots and corners but they rarely played with the kind of all-encompassing confidence that comes with truly knowing you're the heavyweight. They were the favoured team in both group games against the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria, but they didn't play like it. It challenges their foundational myth of who they are. They've scored 33 goals and conceded just 8 since then, with most of those coming through players who have blossomed in the shadow of Sam Kerr: Foord, Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler, Cortnee Vine, Katrina Gorry, Steph Catley.Īdditionally, they're a team backed by sell-out home crowds, led by some of the world's best players, and with a bracket that has begun to open up tantalisingly in front of them thanks to the early exits of Germany and Brazil.īut the Matildas are not used to being the favourites. That run, coincidentally, began with a famous victory over Denmark last September: their first over a European opponent since 2018 and a game in which, after going behind in less than a minute, the team came storming back to win 3-1. Just look at their results over the past year: They've won 11 out of 13 games, including three against top-five-ranked opponents in Sweden, France, and England (all three of whom they could potentially face on the road to the trophy). "We know we can beat anyone, any given day, when we come out with our A-Game."īut coming into this round of 16 match against Denmark, the underdog tag is starting to sit a little awkwardly on the Matildas.īecause they are, in reality, one of the favourites, not just against the Danes but also, increasingly, at this whole World Cup.Īnd they have been for a while, even though they may not want to admit that to themselves. "But we have something else that nobody can take away from this team, and that's the identity and the DNA and the belief. It was a game that embodied everything that the Matildas have come to represent, and folded neatly into Australia's larger foundational myth of itself as the battler, the struggling hero, 'the little country that could'. With their tournament hopes hanging by a thread, it seemed as though the entire country had poured itself into the bodies of those 11 players on Monday, running and leaping and fighting through the 90+ minutes together. It's why the Matildas' unlikely triumph against the Olympic gold medallists last week to keep their Women's World Cup campaign alive felt like a triumph of us all. That our potential is not forever flattened by our circumstances. ![]() They remind us that we can achieve greatness, even with the odds stacked against us. Perhaps we love these stories because we see something of ourselves in them. Buster Douglas defeating Mike Tyson, Leicester City lifting the Premier League trophy, Australia winning the unwinnable America's Cup: these stories have become part of sporting folklore precisely because nobody ever thought they would happen.
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