FIFA World Cup 2023: Robert Craddock on calls for a public holiday if Matildas make final
“Any boss who sacks someone for not turning up to work today is a bum” — it’s the Bob Hawke line which is part of Aussie sporting folklore and could soon apply again, writes Robert Craddock.
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It was a controversial throwaway line from the Prime Minister that showed how big this thing really is.
When Anthony Albanese suggested he would push for a public holiday if the Matildas won the Women’s Soccer World Cup, he echoed a similar sentiment of another Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, when Australia won the America’s Cup sailing competition in 1983.
Hawke didn’t quite make things official but his “”Any boss who sacks someone for not turning up to work today is a bum”, was a message to the masses that if you had settled into celebration mode then don’t feel guilty about staying in your seat.
It’s 40 years and eight Prime Ministers since Hawke made the remark and, until now, none have made an attempt to make the same suggestion.
Albanese was attacked by former Matilda Melissa Barbieri who said instead of a holiday “how about you just f***king fund our sport properly’’ and that’s an understandable suggestion in a multi-toned sport which is rich in some places and poor in others.
But the essence of Albanese’s thinking – that, if Australia did it would be hard to think of anything else for a day or so, was understandable.
Australia play France in a World Cup quarter final at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium at 5pm on Saturday and the nation will stop in their honor as the Matildas attempt to go where no Australian soccer team has gone in a World Cup … to the semi-finals.
It’s not quite true to say Australia will stop like a Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November because to most people the Melbourne Cup involves vague curiosity – this is passion, even for the millions who don’t really know the players or understand the sport.
It’s not a horse. It’s Australia. It’s you and it’s me.
It feels the tournament cannot get any bigger but if Australia wins its next two games and makes the final it will soar into a stratosphere where it could become Australia’s greatest sporting event and team victory.
While there is no strict list, Australia’s America’s Cup win and Cathy Freeman’s 400m win at the Sydney Olympics are so often the two events by which all other “monsters’’ are measured.
As big as it was, the America’s Cup win flashed by in the middle of the night and many Australians slept through it.
The Matildas game is so big that the AFL will show it at the the MCG before the hugely popular Carlton-Melbourne game starts.
From a sport which genuflects to no-one that would have been like KFC’s Colonel Sanders allowing McDonald’s to show off their menus at his restaurants.
This is a time like no other.
GUSTAVSSON’S BIG KERR STARTING HINT
Marco Monteverde and Erin Smith
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has declared star striker Sam Kerr will start for Australia against France on Saturday – if her recovering calf can survive at least 90 minutes.
Whether to play Kerr from the opening whistle in the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-final at Suncorp Stadium has been debated all week considering the Matildas captain has tasted a total of less than 20 minutes of action in the four matches Australia has played in the tournament.
The Matildas have also shown they can win without Kerr, who missed her side’s three Group B games before coming on as a late substitute in Australia’s 2-0 round-of-16 win over Denmark when the match was already in her team’s keeping.
However, Gustavsson will have no hesitation tinkering with a winning combination if all of Kerr’s required fitness boxes are ticked.
“I definitely would never see Sam as a disturbance to the team,” Gustavsson said on Friday.
“If Sam is fit to play 90 minutes, she is starting. There’s not even a question, and the team knows it. We’re talking about Sam Kerr here.
“Whether she is ready to play 90 minutes, plus extra-time, that’s to be decided (on Friday night, but there’s no question whatsoever that if she is, she’s starting.”
If Kerr does start, it;’s likely that either Emily van Egmond or Mary Fowler would be dropped to the bench.
Gustavsson was adamant there would be no backlash from any of his players over team selection.
“The one thing that his team has shown over the last half a year is that no matter what line-up we start with or the line-up we finish with … everyone is ready to step on, and off too.” he said.
“They’ve been amazing teammates supporting each other. There have been no complaints whatsoever in terms of if you start or come off the bench. “They know their role and they play their role.”
Kerr trained seemingly without any pain on Friday in a positive sign that she’s fit enough to play a crucial role for the Matildas, whether as a starter or off the bench.
Fellow attacker Kyah Simon, who is yet to take part in the tournament after being selected in the squad despite carrying a pre-existing knee injury, also trained, albeit mainly separately from the main squad.
Gustavsson again defended his decision to select Simon in his squad for her “game-changing” ability and prowess at taking penalties if shootouts were required to decide games in the knockout stages.
“She’s here for a very good reason,” Gustavsson said of Simon.
“She’s a positive energiser for this team, the locker-room, on the training ground, and her experience helps the young players handle pressure situations – she’s been very good for us.
“I’m going to listen to the recommendation of the medical team whether she’s available for playing time (against France) or not, and also about the PK (penalty kicks).
“Yes there’s a lot of pressure but the one thing that Kyah has shown in the past is that she really embraces and loves those moments.
“If she steps on, it’s all on me, not on her. If for some reason she wouldn’t succeed, it’s on me, not on her.”
EURO GIANTS TARGET WORLD CUP UNSUNG HERO
Kyra Cooney-Cross was Matildas’ coach Tony Gustavsson’s best kept secret ahead of this World Cup – now the whole world is watching with some of the biggest football clubs in the planet standing in line for the midfielder’s signature.
Cooney-Cross, just 21, has played every minute of the Cup so far.
She lines up alongside Katrina Gorry – the duo seemingly able to read each other’s minds on the pitch.
The rising star grew up in Queensland, on the Sunshine Coast – taking to football as a five-year-old and never looking back.
Her dad Jai Cross, who is also a talented footballer, said his eldest of four daughters, was just a natural and had always loved the game.
“I remember the first season thinking ‘holy moly, this kid just really wants the ball’, she would just be everywhere,” Cross said.
“She still plays the same now.”
Like most of the Matildas’ Cooney-Cross honed her skills playing in boys’ teams. But Cross said it never phased her.
“She would get $1 for a goal or $2 for a goal with her left foot so she was always trying to get goals with her left foot. It has certainly paid off,” he said.
Cross said his daughter had always been competitive – especially when it came to beating her siblings at something.
In 2018 Cooney-Cross’ football career reached the next level.
The teen was named in the Future Matildas program based in Sydney.
With her family living in Victoria, Cooney-Cross made the brave decision to relocate on her own – moving in with now Matildas’ teammate Courtney Nevin and finishing school at Westfields Sports High.
Cross said this was when his daughter’s dream to be a Matilda really set in.
Her dedication paid off with the teen making her W-League debut for Melbourne Victory when she was just 15-years-old.
Two years later she was a reserve for the Matildas 2019 World Cup campaign in France.
Cooney-Cross has now gone from the W-League to playing for Hammarby in the Swedish league – and from standing reserve to key starting midfielder for the Matildas.
Her efforts on the field have attracted the attention of some of the biggest clubs and names in football – including former Arsenal forward Ian Wright – who tweeted “Cooney-Cross bro” during the Matildas’ clash with Canada.
Now Chelsea, Manchester United, Juventus and Lyon are among the clubs hoping to snag her signature.
Cooney-Cross bro 👌ðŸ¾ðŸ‘ŒðŸ¾ðŸ‘ŒðŸ¾ðŸ‘ŒðŸ¾
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) July 31, 2023
Cross said it was “pretty big to have someone like that tweet something” about his daughter.
“I’m just super proud, it’s a massive achievement for her. Obviously it’s her first World Cup, she was close to the last one, but I’m just so super proud of her,” he said.
With Cooney-Cross playing overseas Cross said himself and the family were relishing the opportunity to watch her play live, with the younger siblings given permission to stay up past their bedtime to watch.
“I never imagined she would be playing here in front of 80,000 people,” Cross said.
“We don’t get to see much here at all. But after the Nigeria game we hung around in Brisbane for a few days and we got to spend a whole day with her which was nice.”
Cooney-Cross is once again expected to be part of the starting line up when the Matildas take on France in their must-win quarterfinals clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Cross said he didn’t normally get nervous before watching his daughter play – but it might be different this time with so much riding on it.
“If I do get nervous I think it will be during the game,” Cross said. “When it was one-nil against Denmark I was very nervous until we went 2-0 up.”
Matildas plays France at Suncorp at 5pm on Saturday.
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Originally published as FIFA World Cup 2023: Robert Craddock on calls for a public holiday if Matildas make final
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