Almanac (World Cup) Soccer: We’re all Matildas now

 

What a treasure trove of triumphs for the Matildas in reaching the Semi-final, to be played on Wednesday night against England. If you have travelled with the Matildas through the last fortnight you have surely experienced how a heart can be tossed around like a salad, bounced on like a jumping castle and buoyed like the final scene of a Rom-Com, all in 90 minutes plus extra time.

 

We have been on the edge of our seat, hiding behind cushions, pleading with the gods and finger pointing to the sky like we are the team’s manager. We have learned much about most players in the team and our jaws have dropped when finding out someone’s age. What the what, she’s 20!

 

To put it in perspective, Nick Daicos, who has had a blinder of a season for the Magpies in the AFL (and it is upsetting that he has been injured, playing as he has been) is 20 years old. Mary Fowler is the same age. She has played sublime football, absorbing the pressure of the best teams in the world, carrying the weight of Australia’s expectations, on a stage, oh, I don’t know, maybe 100 times bigger.

 

And that was before the quarter final against France. A game that rallied Australia. The game literally woke up millions of Aussies, who have by-passed the beautiful game for decades. In a lot of cases, with arguments staggeringly pedestrian.

 

At 5pm last Saturday the Quarter-final kicked-off. Everyone has a story to tell about this game. Whether they were watching it from the get-go or got drawn into the game as it went on. Whenever you tuned in, one thing we know is that by roughly 7pm, when the penalty shoot-out started, people across the country were glued to some sort of screen, cheering, biting fingernails, sighing, over and again over 19 penalty shots before Vine, with a beautifully measured kick, sent the ball into the back of the net and Australia into the Semi.

 

So, here we are, Australia stands united … and all because of a Women’s football tournament?

 

The pandemic years splintered and fractured our collective polity, bruised our innate confidence and had us, to put it in sporting terms, on the back foot. We have been, slowly, coming back together, in work and play, in sport and art. But it still feels like there is an unconscious guardedness in our sense of community, local, national and international. Climate change denialism hangs over us like a cartoon sword, democracy is being challenged from within, and the great social movements of the 20th century are being targeted aggressively for reasons that are incomprehensible. Hell, even the film Oppenheimer was a stark reminder of the frailty of our world and collective interests.

 

Of course, the Matildas good fortune and brilliant games cannot dint these large and presenting matters. That is the responsibility of every one of us, to be and do better. To be about tomorrow’s needs not today’s wants.

 

Nonetheless, last Saturday night (through the cumulation of a great World Cup effort, as well as 30+ years building the sport in Australia against all odds) we came together as one. If a census was taken at roughly 7.30pm on Saturday night, it would have found our collective happiness off the charts. We are all Matildas now.

 

We had a Greek family dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant in Northcote. Vicki’s uncle’s daughter and her family were visiting from the US. Dinner was scheduled for 6pm, then moved back to 7. So, we watched the game at home until 6.30, and mumble-grumbled about the unfairness of having to leave our telly on the drive there.

 

Once we said our hellos and were all sat down, we moved the menus to the side and took out our phones to watch the game into extra time and then the shoot-out. Across twenty people at dinner there was 6 phones to watch the game and guess what? Our timing was not in sync. That’s right. 6 phone screens with only one screening real time, every other phone delayed by 10 seconds incrementally down the table. You’d think that’d make the tension so much easier to endure. It didn’t. I was a ball of messed up feelings, mostly to do with the sky falling, and again made all too aware that I do not control the universe.

 

Whatever the varying grasps we had of technology, we were unified in our desire and fear. And when Vine scored true, pandemonium broke out. The whole restaurant cheered the roof off. Joy and relief swelled our hearts, eyes brimming with tears of love for our Matildas. For a moment it felt that the world had righted.

 

 

 

We had a ripper of a Saturday night. Several people at the dinner were Blues supporters, so they got jazzed at their win. There were Pies supporters as well (including our US family) and they were pumped. The two elders of the family, Vicki’s father Thanasis, who is 90 and Costa late 80s do not usually spend Saturday night out, let alone stay up past 9pm. But they were with us, laughing and talking till way past 11pm. Maybe the footy was a plus, certainly dinner with family always goes down well, but it was something more than all that. The pride and joy the Matildas has gifted every one of us, was the cornerstone of a good night out. Hell, I’m still high on it today.

 

Whatever happens on Wednesday night against England, is in the lap of our own gods. A win would be bloody nice. And anotheree next Sunday. For now, we have time to let it soak in. This champion team has won us over, with their nerves of steel, skill and flair, fleet feet and shinning eyes. They have remined us to dream together and go hard.

 

 

 

More from Trucker Slim Here.

 

 

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About Rick Kane

Up in the mornin', out on the job Work like the devil for my pay But that lucky old sun has nothin' to do But roll around Heaven all day

Comments

  1. Good one Trucker. Greek, Vietnamese, American. Hope you ordered the Waldorf salad with lamb and coriander.

    Who’s the bald, grey-haired bloke laughing his head off??

  2. Les Everett says

    Nice Rick

  3. Lovely work.

  4. Matt Quartermaine says

    Excellent piece Ricky. You can’t solve all the world’s problems but I love that you give it a darn good try.

  5. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    Great taste in t-shirts too Rick. Make sure you wear it tomorrow night.

  6. Thanks Dips and appreciate you noted hair!

    Polly, Les, cheers

    Matt, yep, first draft Matildas did solve everything. I matured since then.

    Swish, be great to get Billy’s take on the World Cup.

    Cheers & carn Matildas tonight!

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