Get your charts ready…. The World Cup starts this weekend…
- This is the largest and longest event in the history of the tournament. Comprising 24 teams, it starts on 6 June in Edmonton, where Canada play China, and concludes on 5 July. Eight countries are making their debuts: Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Holland, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand.
- Australia was sent to the 1978 inaugural World Women’s Invitational Tournament in Taipei, Taiwan. Australia played against club teams at the tournament and none of the players’ appearances counted as official caps. Our own Julie Dolan of course was there.
- The championship has been awarded every four years since the 1991 inaugural tournament held in China, after the first men’s tournament was held 61 years prior. The United States beat Norway 2-1 in the final, to become winners of the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup.
- Our own Joey Peters has been to no less than four World Cups during her career in 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2007. Joey played for the Matildas between 1996 and 2009, was capped 109 times, and scored 28 goals.
- Australian Women’s National Team has never failed to qualify for the World Cup.
- In 2011 Australia put in arguably their best FIFA Women’s World Cup performance to date with a strong showing in Group D where the team came out of the group with six points following wins against Equatorial Guinea and Norway as well as a narrow 1-nil loss to Brazil. In a tournament where Australia had the third youngest team, with an average age of 22, the team performed strongly and received many plaudits for their style of play and character. Australia were knocked out in the quarter final by eventual third placed Sweden, losing 3-1 to the world’s fifth ranked nation.
- The Matildas have spent fifty-two days in nine separate training camps; at least 15 international or competitive friendly matches, an endless cycle of training, physio, strapping and ice baths; dozens of hours spent washing undies in motel sinks and a countless string of phone chargers and toothbrushes left littered across several continents. It’s a far cry from the days when women formed their own football association, such was the neglect and disrespect shown by the then Australia Soccer Federation. This is a campaign that’s been prioritised and extensively planned for.
- The Matildas are ranked 10th in the world and coached by Alen Stajcic. Germany is ranked first, with USA second and France third.
- Japan are the current Women’s World Cup holders. Their victory in Germany came three months after the country had been struck by an earthquake and tsunami which killed at least 18,000 people. The US, losing finalists in 2011, are among the favourites again but France and Germany also look strong and Japan – whose 57 year-old male coach Norio Sasaki is highly acclaimed – are expected to be contenders. Sweden could be a dark horse while Brazil, Canada and Norway should not be underestimated.
- Every tournament has one and Canada 2015 is no different. The Group of Death is Group D, featuring the US, Sweden, Australia and Nigeria. Standing in our way now is a seeming mission impossible – the mathematically hardest possible draw, consisting of 2011 runners-up USA, Africa’s top-ranked side Nigeria, and world number five, Sweden – Australia’s vanquishers at the last tournament.
- The crowds for the tournament will be huge. For the Matildas – used to crowds just scratching the 1000 plus mark in the W League and perhaps 3000-5000 for international fixtures – to face the two-times world champion Americans in front of a vociferous, parochial, capacity crowd of 40000 will be a tale with which to regale the grandkids.
- At the 1999 World Cup, the US did not fail to draw less than 50000 to their games, with more than 90000 turning out to see them defeat China in the final via a penalty shoot-out. It is a continent absolutely gripped with a fervour and fever for women’s football, and to play before such crowds is a fitting capstone for the sweat, tears and sacrifices made by this Matildas squad.
- While prize money is now available to the winners, at $13.6 million it is a tiny fraction of the $406 million on offer to the men in Brazil last summer.
- Only 8 of the 24 teams in Canada this summer will be led by female coaches, a fact that prompted Hope Powell to express concern that women are being ‘squeezed out’ of their own game.
- This will be the first football World Cup – either female or male – to be played on artificial turf. A contingent of leading women’s stars mounted a legal challenge against Fifa’s decision not to grass the Canadian venues but it failed to gain sufficient traction and the case was eventually dropped. Should players suffer serious ‘non impact’ injuries though, the underfoot conditions will inevitably become a contentious topic.
- Games are being played across six venues – Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. Toronto is not hosting matches as it stages the Pan American games a few days after the final in Vancouver.
- Great things are expected from Asisat Oshoala, the 20 year-old Nigeria forward, who plays for Liverpool in the Women’s Super League. Asisat is the newly anointed BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year. Oshoala was Player of the Tournament in last summer’s Women’s World Under-20’s in Canada when Nigeria narrowly lost out to Germany in the tightest of finals.
- Known as ‘the female Pelé’, Marta will be the most famous face. The 29 year-old Brazil forward is five times winner of Fifa’s female Footballer of the Year award and is contesting her fourth World Cup.
- Canada – grouped with Holland, China and New Zealand – are excited about their 17 year-old midfielder Jessie Fleming. Canada’s most precocious young star made her senior international debut at 15.
- The US are eager for victory. They last won the title in 1999 but are nervous that their former coach, the highly regarded Pia Sundhage, is now in charge of her native Sweden.
- Christie Rampone hopes to become the first 40 year-old to lift the trophy. The US captain turned 40 on 24 June.
- Vivianne Miedema promises to help Holland play World Cup catch up. Only 18, Miedema is already playing professionally for Bayern Munich and is a forward variously dubbed “the most gifted in Europe” and “the Arjen Robben of the women’s game”. Miedema should be one to watch as the Oranje make their world cup debut.
- Japan are relieved that Homare Sawa, their key attacking midfielder and the woman voted player of the tournament at Germany 2011 has recovered from an injury-ravaged season to take her place in Sasaki’s squad. Sawa is now 36-years-old and this will be her sixth World Cup finals.
- The tournament kicks off on Sunday 7 June and the first game for Australia is USA versus Matildas Tuesday 9th July 9.30am
- SBS has all the games live.
Matildas celebrate!
Winning the cup might be beyond Australia. Then again, it might not be. The Matildas have been steadily improving with every tournament, and the 10th-best team in the world is prepared like never before. They gave up their day jobs at the start of the year to focus full-time on the task ahead of them, and returned home from a six-week tour of Europe quietly confident. Coach Alen Stajcic says he has so much firepower to choose from that finding room in this squad for Kate Gill, the country’s all-time leading scorer, just wasn’t possible this time around. They’ve won 12 of their past 18 games, and went unbeaten in last year’s Asian Cup until they met the world champions, Japan, in the final. They also slotted 11 past Vietnam in their farewell match, and their form line suggests they should go as far as the semi-finals, at least.
The tournament kicks off on Sunday 7 June with all 52 matches available online through SBS
Enjoy!
Thank you for such a thorough and interesting roundup of everything you need to know
This is exciting stuff – we will be following the Matildas all the way 🙂