Matildas FIFA Team

The Matildas, a name derived from the bush ballad 'Waltzing Matilda', is the nickname given to Australia's women's national football team. The team is overseen by the Football Federation Australia, a member of the Asian Football Confederation and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The Matildas participate in FIFA-sponsored international competitions and represent Australia in the Olympic Games. The team, first established in 1978, has made it to the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup in 2007, 2011 and 2015; won the OFC Women's Championships in 1995, 1998 and 2003; and won the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2010. The Matildas are considered among the best national teams in the world, being the first to win in two different confederations. As of December 2017 FIFA ranked the team fourth in the world.

Origins and History

Women's football was first played at the community, local and state levels in Australia and was long overlooked as a sport. In the early 1970s the first interstate championship for women's football was held. Recognising a growing interest in women's sports, the Australian Women's Soccer Association was founded soon after in 1974. However, it was not until 1978 that the first official Australian women's national team was established to play in the World Women's Invitational Tournament in Taipei. In October 1979 the national team faced its first official test series against New Zealand, the Trans-Tasman Trophy. The early 1980s were a time of team building, as the Australian women's team competed against only the New Zealand national team until 1986. Australia went on to play the World Invitational Tournament in Taiwan in 1987, where they faced the US team formally for the first time. Attempts to qualify for the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup resulted in disappointment, however.

With the 1990s came a new focus on international play, and the Australian team, by then known as the Matildas, advanced to their first Women's World Cup in 1995. Although the team ultimately lost, it marked the beginning of more intense play. The success of the late 1990s also carried over into the new millennium and victories brought greater fan recognition and stadium attendance. The years 2003 and 2004 saw the Matildas in World Cup competition and the Summer Olympics, respectively, and in 2006 made it to the finals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup. By the 2010s, although still not at the top of the international standings, the Australian women's team continued to build, finding notable success across tournaments. In 2017 the Matildas recorded their first win over the United States at the Tournament of Nations, going on to win the competition overall, and were awarded the Public Choice Team of the Year at the Australian Institute of Sport's Sport Performance Awards.

Rules and Regulations

Football is played on a rectangular field, where two opposing teams of eleven players, excluding substitutes, attempt to score points by shooting the ball into the opposing team's goal located at either end of the field. The team that scores the most goals wins the game; if teams score the same number of goals, the game is considered a draw. Goals are defended by goalkeepers. The most important rule of the game is that no player, except for the goalkeeper, may use their hands while the ball is in play, but rather using their feet, torso, or head to propel the ball across the field. Players may move the ball in any direction, but their position restricts their movement on the field. Opposing players may try to intercept the ball, and thus gain control, by intercepting passes or tackling the player in possession; however, physical contact is restricted and intentional contact may result in penalties, depending on severity. Penalties may include expulsion from the game and/or penalty kicks.

Games are divided into two forty-five-minute halves, a count kept by the referee. In knock-out competition, usually featured in tournament play, various methods may be used to break a tie game, including additional time and penalty shootouts.

Top Athletes

Among the top players for the Australian national women's team is Cheryl Salisbury, active throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. A solid defender, Salisbury played in four World Cups and two Olympic Games. She remains Australia's second-highest female international goal scorer of all time with thirty-eight international goals and won 151 caps during her time as a Matilda. Lisa De Vanna, a forward, co-captain and two-time Olympian, is considered among the greatest modern female footballers. In August 2017, De Vanna became the highest goal scorer in Matildas' history, with forty-two career goals.

Heather Garriock played as a midfielder across 130 matches for the Australian women's national team, appearing in three Olympic Games and three FIFA Women's World Cups. Samantha "Sam" Kerr, a midfielder for the national team, was named International Player of the Year by the Football Media Association in 2013 and 2014, received the prestigious Julie Dolan Medal in 2016–17 and as a club player became the all-time top scorer in the US National Women's Soccer League in 2017. Kerr was also named AFC Women's Player of the Year after helping lead her team to victory in the inaugural Tournament of Nations.

Bibliography

Connolly, Paul. "'They ARE Feminine': The Matildas' Long Road from Sexism in '79 to Sellouts in '17." The Guardian, 15 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/16/they-are-feminine-the-matildas-long-road-from-sexism-in-79-to-sellouts-in-17. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.

Downes, Greg, et al. "'Not Merely an Isolated Game': Women's Association Football in Australia." The International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 32, no. 18, 8 Jan. 2015, 2150–70. doi:10.1080/09523367.2014.995099. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.

Goldblatt, David. The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer. Riverhead Books, 2008.

Westfield Matildas, Football Federation Australia, 2017, matildas.footballaustralia.com.au. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.

Williams, Jean. "Waltzing the Matildas: Women's Football in Australia." A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football. Berg Publishers, 2007.