Steph Catley remembers what the hunch felt like. “I don't know why, just when I woke up this morning, I was like, ‘I feel like I'm going to take a pen today,’” recalled the star Australian defender in a mixed-zone chat with journalists at Sydney Olympic Park’s Stadium Australia on Thursday night.
Little did the 29-year-old know that the intuition would not only come true, but her second-half penalty in Australia’s 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in their opening game of the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup would also earn her a special place in her country’s sports history.
The tournament, after all, is the biggest sporting event to hit Australian shores since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It is also the largest-ever women’s football World Cup yet, with 32 teams competing for the silverware, and the first women’s major event in the country since the 2020 T20 cricket World Cup, which culminated in a final that saw the highest attendance – 86,174 – recorded for a women’s sporting fixture in Australia.
Toss into the equation that Catley had to fill the shoes of designated captain and star striker, Sam Kerr: Kerr has been in the spotlight since Australia was named co-host in 2020 alongside New Zealand for what is the ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. An hour before the 8pm kick-off in Sydney on July 20, Football Australia revealed that Kerr had been ruled out of the hosts’ first two group games with calf injury. The faces of thousands of fans among the record 75,784 crowd at the cavernous arena – the highest for a women’s football match in the country – fell. But the occasion demanded Catley, who plies her trade for Arsenal in European club football, and the Australian side, nicknamed Matildas, stepped up as Kerr’s absence in the box threatened the potency in front of goal – especially in the air.
Turning point
Come the 50th minute, the game would turn decisively in Australia’s favour and leave Ireland, one of the eight teams making their FIFA Women’s World Cup debut, resolutely looking for an equalizer that wasn’t to be. Bundled over in the penalty area by Irish forward Marissa Sheva, beribboned midfielder Hayley Raso’s fall had the sea of supporters donning green and gold up on their feet.
The referee signalled the foul. Raucous cheers soon gave way to nervous anticipation. Time stood still where once the legendary Indigenous 400m sprinter Cathy Freeman ran into Olympic immortality. The Matildas’ moment of reckoning had arrived. The who’s who in attendance, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and former Australia women’s cricket captain and World Cup winner Rachael Haynes, looked on, with reportedly 4.88 million people also glued to the screens on the Seven Network.
“When it (the moment ahead of the penalty) happened, I just tried to relax,” Catley remembered. “I like taking set pieces, so I just picked a spot here thinking about it, took a deep breath and then just hit it where I wanted to hit it and luckily it went in.”
The projectile rifled into the top corner. The gladiatorial – and decidedly physical battle between seven-time World Cup participants Australia and first-time competitors Ireland now had the hosts crucially edge ahead in a contest that culminated in a closely-fought final 20 minutes.
“The build-up (to Thursday’s Australia vs Ireland game) was incredible,” said Catley. “As female footballers, we've never felt or seen anything like it … This is the biggest moment of a lot of our careers. We expected some nervy, stoppy moments, and we had them, but to get over the line, to keep a clean sheet, to fight the way we did - I think it sets us up really well for the tournament.”
Like many of her team-mates, including Raso and Mary Fowler, Catley acknowledged the opposition’s spirited showing. “To be fair, I thought Ireland were incredible for their first World Cup. They’re one of the best teams in the world on set pieces … I think they played to their strengths exceptionally well.”
On a night when thousands of Irish fans had descended upon the sold-out venue, having made the trip to watch the Kate McCabe-led side make history, the scoreline alone couldn’t testify just how far Vera Pauw’s team had come since walking onto the pitch clad in traditional green, with white shorts and green socks.
“It’s disappointing we lost but I am still proud of the girls,” Anthony Dunne, a travelling fan from County Meath, told Moneyconrol.com. “Just to be here, playing at a World Cup for the first time, when no one expected us to be here, is such a huge achievement for our country.
“And even after the goal went in, they didn’t give up. The girls kept going at Australia till the last second just as we kept cheering them on, despite being well outnumbered by the Aussies.”
Well after the final whistle went off, “Ole, ole, ole, ole,” continued to ring out from among the droves of Irish supporters as they made their way out of Stadium Australia. Renditions of the folk ballad, “The Fields of Athenry,” also reverberated a final few times across the 81,000-capacity stadium and spilled onto the streets leading to the nearby Olympic Park Station even as midnight inched closer.
Australia had long awaited this party in its backyard. As had women's football globally. And in fighting tooth and nail, and bringing spunk and symphonies to the night, Ireland ensured the Big Dance Down Under got off to the memorable start it deserved.
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