The saddest day of any World Cup is the day after the host nation’s dream officially dies.
It can come after a few days or a few weeks, it can come in the quarterfinals or semifinals, it can come as a result of a stunning upset or something we all knew was brewing. Yet whichever way it breaks it casts an unavoidable pall that takes some time to pass.
In the men’s World Cup in South Africa in 2010, it essentially (though not mathematically) came just six days into the tournament after results conspired against the home country, a cruel blow in what was the African continent’s first time hosting the event. At the women’s tournament in 2011, it sent the German public into disbelief, as their national team had looked utterly invincible — until it wasn’t.
The morning after the fateful night feels different somehow. The mood on the streets is a little heavier. For the hosts it’s still their party … except that now they know someone else will get to take home the fanciest gift.
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It was nearly two weeks ago that Australia very much looked like it was about to have a day like that, veering towards elimination and the dashing of all that hope. Yet it still hasn’t. In fact, The Matildas are rolling, playing better than ever, gearing up for a spectacular semifinal against their country’s oldest and fiercest sporting rival — England.
There are two ways to build up momentum as a World Cup team. The first is to be impregnably dominant all the way through and to look and feel unstoppable. The other is to dance with danger and come through anyway, skipping around the exit door with wit and wisdom, and a little bit of chance.
The latter is the path Australia has chosen, and what a flirty little tango it has been, delightfully flawed but truly feisty and, in the case of the penalty shootout victory against France, damn near heart-stopping in its excitement.
A country in which the primary national trait is optimism has found the perfect representatives in a spirited group of women who used the injury-enforced absence of Sam Kerr as a motivator rather than an excuse.
Kate Gill on Australia advancing: ‘I’m so proud of what they’re doing for women’s football’
From being 90 minutes away from getting dumped out before facing Canada in the group stage, they now have a genuine puncher’s chance of winning it all.
That bleak day we spoke about that befalls virtually every World Cup? Guess what, it might never arrive for this one.
“(Let’s) bring the nation in so we can actually embrace and enjoy this moment,” head coach Tony Gustavsson told reporters. “That is part of the mental recovery.”
Kerr is back now as a sub, and no, we still don’t know exactly where her level of health and calf suppleness is at. That’s thanks to Gustavsson’s expertise at playing a cat-and-mouse game with querying reporters, refusing to let full disclosure get in the way of a good mystery.
Young forward Mary Fowler has admirably risen to the forefront, and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold overcame a poor start to the World Cup to play the hero role against France. But the underrated thrust of this team is in its central midfield engine led by veteran Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross, a 21-year-old playing a pressurized position and doing so with an almost eerie sense of calm.
Alexi Lalas reacts to Mackenzie Arnold’s penalty shootout vs. France
England will be favored, but this feels like a pick ‘em. The Lionesses boast the greater overall talent but have no one with Kerr’s individual brilliance, and the Aussies are certain to be backed by deafening support at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
Don’t be surprised if it shapes up as an absolute slugfest. The historic sporting links between Australia and “Mother England” are best saved for their own separate story, but let’s just say that no quarter will be asked for or given.
The Matildas wouldn’t want it any other way. There is a certain liberation about being on your second life in a tournament, and you could argue the Aussies are on at least their third. Had France’s PK shooters shown a fraction more accuracy, the World Cup would have a somewhat different feel to it heading into the semis.
Co-host New Zealand shouldn’t be forgotten of course, and it was with no small measure of sadness that its campaign ended in the group stage, even though such an outcome wasn’t unexpected.
Australia, with all its twisting narratives, has kept the home interest bubbling along, and its group defeat to Nigeria seems a long time ago now.
Getting past the quarters flew in the face of convention, and overrode a quirky stat that showed the host had been sent packing at that exact stage in six of the eight previous women’s World Cups.
Highlights: Australia’s thrilling victory over France
The most recent ones were painful. In 2019, France was one of the strongest teams in the competition but got a brutal draw and was ousted by a rampant United States squad that went on to win the title.
In 2015, Canada was a joy to watch from start to finish, but got edged out by England, also in the quarters. When Germany was shaken by Japan in 2011, it was the first time it had lost a World Cup game in 12 years.
No such dismay for Australia — not yet at least. The tournament’s best story has been staring us in the face the whole time. The Matildas have brightened things up while staving off the World Cup’s darkest day.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter at @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
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