Australia 2 China 0
Stadium Australia was buzzing on Monday night as the Matildas bid farewell to their long-serving goalkeeper Lydia Williams and farewelled the Australian public with a tremendous win ahead of the Olympic Games in France in July. Sydney turned out in force to see their Australian superheroes and were rewarded with a much higher tempo than Friday night’s grind in Adelaide. Two goals after half time gave Tony Gustavsson’s team an insurmountable lead that China ultimately could not recoup. A marvellous evening that invoked memories of the Women’s World Cup at this venue less than a year ago gave the watching fans hope for the difficult tournament ahead.
With Michelle back in Sydney only at 4pm from her Adelaide trip, this was always going to be a quick turnaround. With driving duties out of my hands, the major event bus was the transport of choice this evening, and we parked up in the backstreets of Ermington to wait for the Rouse Hill route 8 bus to take us directly to the stadium. The Easter Show bus arrived and immediately headed into disastrous traffic on Silverwater Road, but our fantastic driver made a swift manouevre to scoot along the right lane and nipped in to shave a good ten minutes off the journey. We know Silverwater Road well, and this time of day is never fun, especially when there’s something on at Homebush.
The vibe wasn’t quite World Cup 2023 when we arrived, not as frenzied and packed, but the pre-game music, food and drink was exactly as we’d experienced for the semi-final against England that fateful night. It was very well done. We slid into the Locker Room for a quick beer – I actually left les filles to it after downing my pint and headed out for a tour of the stadium to catch the pre-game vibe. There wasn’t that much time to kick off though, so after taking in the talented music act on the corner, I headed past the ferocious queues for merchandise and around to Gate G to soak up the pre-match atmosphere inside the stadium.
I was happy not to have any more beers; home games tend to be a little bit different to away days in that respect, but the appearance of some kiosks inside the stadium selling just booze made it that much easier to acquire a cold Stone and Wood and temptation got the better of me. Some mental prices for the other drinks mind you. One can of mid-strength Canadian Club & Dry almost the price of a four-pack at the local bottle-o. I headed down to the active area – I don’t think I was in my own seat, but the active bay is like that – you sit where you like, and if you want to be involved in the singing and flag waving, in you go. There’s always an empty seat further away if you’re not ready to get involved.
The Matildas Active were assembling; they had been busy with the flags and banners and there was even a big flag with the face of Lydia Williams waiting to be unfurled. I’m guessing by the fact that it was printed and not hand-painted, that it was provided by Football Australia. This was set to be Lydia’s farewell tonight, her desire to retire after the Olympics brought forward, and there was no surprise when she was named goalkeeper for the night, with Teagan Micah one of three substitute keepers on the bench.
The stadium was filling up. There was Sydney FC representation everywhere. The fireworks lit the sky, the big banner was lifted for Lydia and the players came out and stood together watching highlights of her amazing career. Lovely moment. The seats on the train station side, the Cathy Freeman stand, had cards on their seats which were held aloft as the players lined up, a green and gold wall greeting the teams. We had a welcome to country, the national anthems and the scene was set.
The Active section was preparing itself for a difficult night. After enduring the ire of the Adelaide crowd for daring to be active, for standing up and for waving flags, the expectation was for more of the same. However, it appeared that the active bay was only for active, and those who wanted to join headed to the front to join the party. No blocked views, no stubborn “that’s my seat” situations, no covering of ears from people not happy with the singing and chanting. Nothing, just the right people in the right place wanting to give it all for Australia’s favourite sporting team. Praise the lord!
We had trumpets in the bay, we had drums, loads of flags and the singing was underway with a rendition of Waltzing Matilda. This had been suggested pre-game on one of the online forums and shot down as being a bad idea due to the nature of the song. Who cares – everyone knows it, and we belted out the extended version that got the rest of the crowd involved too. A great start.
There’s no point in going into the ins and outs of the game, you saw it on the telly or from a better viewpoint than me, and it would have been expertly commentated by people seeing it from the best angle. It was clear that Tony had given the players a rocket after Friday, and the players were playing for their spot in the trimmed-down Olympics squad. Tameka Yallop missed a golden chance in front of goal up the far end, skying over when well placed, then Hayley Raso shot straight at the goalkeeper when a metre either side would have given Australia the lead. Michelle Heyman wowed the crowd with a mazy run and shot that curled just past the post. Lydia did leave the field before half time as expected – someone quipped that she should be booked for time wasting as she took the hugs from her teammates, but it was a great moment in Australian football, and thoroughly merited. At half-time the score was 0-0, but not for the want of trying.
Half-time was easy. Easy for a bloke who was only after a toilet stop and another beer. The queues for food were outrageous and the queue for the ladies bathroom was snaking past it. Perhaps it’s time to repurpose some of the gents bathrooms when the Matildas are on, or bring in some portable urinals for the fellas. Having to wait in that queue when the game was going to restart any moment must have been infuriating for the ladies this evening.
Sydney FC women’s star Tori was there with Jaydee, Shane was there after delaying his trip to watch the Socceroos in Bangladesh, and there were a host of faces from Friday night in Adelaide. This game may have been a friendly, but it meant a lot to a lot of people. Expert capo MMTV led away the chants all game and they were fantastic. Whilst the rest of the stadium still persisted with Aussie Aussie, the extended remix of a lot of the chants had the active section bouncing. We love Matildas, la-la-la-la-la-laaaah.
Australia took the lead just after half time when a free kick was powered in by Steph Catley and Clare Wheeler headed home brilliantly. I was right behind the goal and it looked like an own goal, but the replay on the massive screen at the far end confirmed Wheeler’s celebrations and the classy midfielder had her goal. That set the crowd on fire. The active section was bouncing, and more people joined to get in amongst the action.
Not long after that, Cortnee Vine, who seemed to be playing with Olympic squad selection on her mind in a fizzing performance, intercepted a loose ball and played an absolute cracker of a ball through to Raso, like Joe Willock feeding Alexander Isak for Newcastle United at St James Park earlier this season, and Raso rounded the goalkeeper to stroke home the second goal. Of course our view was obscured by the advertising hoardings so we had no idea it had gone in, but we were celebrating anyway. Get in, 2-0, and what a change in performance from the Matildas. We also couldn’t see how close Yallop’s shot was a moment or two later as the ball skimmed the post to oohs from the rest of the crowd. The remainder of the game was even. Vine hoofed over when well-placed, and then she almost gifted a goal to China after hesitating in possession at the back. China looked the most likely to score, but the game played out its conclusion and the final whistle was met with a huge roar.
By now we had been joined in the active section by the sign-wielding youth, looking for signatures, shirts, anything from the players. We did get Lydia at our end to get photos in front of the banner, and there was a quick sprint-past of some of the stars of the Matildas, high-fives for the front row, but the vast majority of fans would leave empty-handed. I did try explaining to a frustrated mother that there was a Sydney FC star a few rows back who was available for signatures. She looked at me blankly and after glancing up and not recognising the superstar A-League player in question, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to chat about how her son had missed getting any signatures. Honestly, there is no helping some people. The A-League, what’s that?
The mood at the end was happy, the disappearance of the last player from the field meant it was time to go. The Matildas Active crew had packed up all the flags and drums and it was home time. Just like that, the party had ended, and we scuttled over to the bus stop to get on the last bus of the night that was leaving fifteen minutes ahead of schedule – yes, that’s happened to me before, but this time we made it.
Back to Ermington on the Rouse Hill route 8 bus and a short car journey home, I was walking into the house just before 11pm, a thoroughly respectable time for a school night.
This was a great occasion tonight. The Matildas stepped up their game and made life uncomfortable for China, although the visitors looked quite menacing towards the end with the score at a comfortable 2-0. The tempo of the game was much more in line with what we can expect at the Olympics in a few weeks, and the Matildas players responded to the challenge with a much more professional and adept performance to send the fans away with hope and belief. The active section was magical too, the drumming virtuosos and super capo MMTV restoring faith in the whole active scene after a deflating experience in Adelaide. Two superb game days either side of a monsoonal weekend; our belief in the Matildas and in Tony’s plan is restored once more. Til it’s done, let’s gooooo.