The Our Futbol Podcast is proud to be collaborating with FUTBO13RA® to bring readers coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games – Women’s Soccer Tournament. You can download the FUTBO13RA® Guide: Paris 2024 PDF here.
If there is a nickname that is undeniably recognizable in the world of football, it is the Matildas. There seems to be no consensus on the origin of the term. Theories of its birth range from the appearance of a kangaroo-shaped totem at the 1982 Commonwealth Games to being the result of a survey by a local television station.
Regardless of its origin, thanks to their historic fourth place finish in the last World Cup, the Australian team has increased its popularity in Oceania and around the world.
With around 50 years of history, the Matildas today are part of the Top 15 teams in the world. But the road was not always easy, since Australian women also suffered from prohibitionism that kept them from all sports participation due to “medical and aesthetic” reasons.
But gender discrimination was not only a barrier keeping Australian women away from football. The wage gap between men and women also made it impossible for them to dedicate themselves professionally to the game.
Thus, after the 2015 World Cup where they reached the quarterfinals (which was the greatest success achieved by Australian football in any category regardless of gender), the Matildas began a strike that lasted two months. Their demands included an implementation of basic measures and practices necessary for professional sports, equal pay and opportunities, the establishment of conditions that favor the careers of elite women soccer players, as well as demanding that the government take actions aimed at making professional soccer a viable option for girls and adolescents.
This tactic, supported by the team’s male counterparts and the United States women’s team, represented a milestone in soccer, given it was the first of its kind and helped open a conversation about women’s soccer around the world, especially in the face of an event the size of the 2016 Olympic Games.
“This team represents much more than just the result,” head coach Tony Gustavsson told FIFA.com. “The World Cup showed that yes, they didn’t win medals, but they won something much bigger than that. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to win.”
Tony Gustavsson was born in 1973 in Sundsvall, Sweden, and boasts a 21-year career in coaching. Despite having experience in both the men’s and women’s soccer space, he will be remembered mainly for the titles he obtained in women’s soccer, most notably, serving as an assistant coach under Jill Ellis for the US Women’s National Team during the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, where the team won both titles.
In his native country, at the helm of Tyresö, he won the first league title in 2012 and led them to the European Champions League (Women’s Champions League) final in 2014, losing to Wolfsburg 4-3.
As far as Olympics records go, Gustavsson won the gold medal in London 2012, also with the United States team, this time as Pia Sundhage’s assistant.
Led by Gustavsson, the Matildas obtained their ticket to the Olympic Games in February of this year after winning the third and final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying tournament. Set plays and long passes in dangerous areas will be key tactics Australia will use to get the upper hand in an extremely complicated group.
Captain: Stephanie Catley
“During the World Cup, our team somehow conquered the nation and they fell in love not only with football but also with the people who played it,” Stephanie Catley told Grazie Magazine. “That has always been the special thing about our team. It has been a turning point for football in Australia.”
Stephanie “Steph” Catley has shared the captaincy with Sam Kerr since the 2019 World Cup in France. Both are Australian football figures and were leaders in the strike that asked for better conditions for their team, so when Sam Kerr got injured and couldn’t participate in upcoming tournaments, there was no doubt that Catley would wear the armband.
Catley has a long history in women’s soccer and playing at the top level. She played in the NWSL with the Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride and OL Reign. She was a four-time champion of the W-League, the top category of women’s soccer in Australia, once with Melbourne Victory and three with Melbourne City FC. Currently, she plays for Arsenal, where she won the FA Cup in the 2022/2023 season.
She debuted with the senior team in 2012 and since then she has played in three World Cups and is preparing to go to her third Olympic Games.
Although left back is her natural position, Gustavsson has used her as a center back when circumstances have warranted it. Catley has a great ability to recover balls and a high accurate passing percentage. She understands how to handle pressure and is not afraid to take the shot if necessary from the penalty spot.
Her performance will be essential to transmit calm to her teammates, who are eager to surpass what they achieved in Tokyo 2020.
Player to Watch: Kyra Cooney-Cross
Traditionally, international tournaments are the perfect setting for managers to look for new talent for their teams, and the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was no exception.
Soccer was always a part of Cooney-Cross’ life. Her father played semi-professionally which helped boost her career since she was little. Since she was 4 years old, she knew that her destiny would be linked to the sport for the rest of her life. Thanks to her talent Melbourne Victory recruited her in 2017 and there she began her career as a professional.
She lifted the W-League championship trophy with Melbourne Victory in 2020 andin 2021 she gained her first international experience by signing with Hammarby IF in Sweden. It was in that same year that she became a part of club history, helping the team win the Swedish Cup after a 28-year drought and celebrating with over 17,000 people in attendance.
Her debut with her national team came in 2021, after years of being part of the youth teams. Her solid performances during every call-up earned her the invite to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and, a few years later, she was included in the list of players who would compete in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil. It was thanks to her incredible performance in this tournament that Cooney-Cross signed with Arsenal in the Barclay’s Women’s Super League at just 21-years-old and went on to win the FA Cup later that season.
The Queensland-born midfielder will have her second Olympic experience and this time she will be a protagonist for the Matildas, who will need all her power in attack to overcome their opponents.
The base of this team comes with plenty of Olympic experience, with almost half participating in their third edition of this competition. After the painful defeat against the United States in the fight for bronze in Tokyo, the group stage match will be a good revenge battle and the Matildas will seek to advance to the next round and win a medal once and for all.
What time does Australia play at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?
Australia’s Match Schedule in Group B
Thursday July 25
Germany vs. Australia | 10:00 AM PST | 11:00 AM CDMX | 12:00 PM CST | 1:00 PM EST | Stade de Marseille
Sunday July 28
Australia vs. Zambia | 10:00 AM PST | 11:00 AM CDMX | 12:00 PM CST | 1:00 PM EST | Stade de Nice
Wednesday, July 31
Australia vs. United States | 10:00 AM PST | 11:00 AM CDMX | 12:00 PM CST | 1:00 PM EST | Stade de Marseille
This has been edited from its original version which can be found on the Futbo13ra website here.
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