A burst bubble and skilful Sweden push the Matildas to fourth – By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (Elanka Sports Editor)
The English burst their bubble 2-1, but the Matildas although deflated were on a high in the Semi-Final after an arm wrestle against their arch rivals, and it breathed belief that they would clinch third place in the World Cup.
A flamboyant Sweden decided otherwise, as they stifled and snuffed out home crowd support to claim third place despite the deafening home crowd support with a truly calculated 2-0 win.
I was one, among a few million Australians, who firmly believed the Matildas would end on a high after their heartbreaking loss to England. But it was not to be, as one of Soccer’s World Cup heavyweights showed skill, flair, and deadly accuracy to kill off any chance of an upset.
While the Matildas fourth place was irrelevant to the rest in the competition, from an Australian perspective, many boxes were ticked in making the rest of the country aware of it’s sporting heroes who until this World Cup, have gone hugely unnoticed.
Australia now has a new focus on a team to be proud of despite the overriding irrelevance and have now created a new marketing product at the highest level of international sport.
What came out if a fourth place in World Cup clearly forges Australia as a team that will be treated with utmost respect and the possibilities are limitless.
It will be a World Cup that will be remembered for many reasons.
The Australian version broke all records for crowd participation, record coverage on all media channels worldwide but most importantly the country’s ability to produce the best Women’s World Cup Soccer ever.
Australia, and the an entire population are born to a new following of Soccer fans who until now, have been In the shadows of obscurity.
