Olympics, 2024: Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross reveals what she will avoid at Paris Games
Matildas midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross has revealed one major change from the World Cup that could help land the team on the podium in Paris.
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As Matildas mania swept through the country this time last year, the team’s inner-circle superstitions and bizarre rituals were taking a stranglehold on Australia’s finest footballers.
Kyra Cooney-Cross played every minute at the 2023 World Cup and while she is expected to play another important role for Australia at the Olympic starting next week, she is refusing to be swept up in the superstitions that gripped the team during the World Cup.
“We were all wearing the same undies and bra or we all had to get our nails done,” Cooney-Cross said.
“If we changed something then we would say that was why we lost the game or why we didn’t do so well.
“I didn’t get my nails done against Nigeria and that was the only game I didn’t (they lost 3-0).
“So then I had to get my nails done for every game.
“Some people were eating the same thing. Everyone got so superstitious.”
Cooney-Cross said at her second Olympics and fourth major tournament she was going to stick to one pre-game ritual – a shower before she got on the team bus to head to the stadium on game day so she was “feeling fresh”.
“Superstitions can get a bit too much and then can be quite exhausting,” she said.
Cooney-Cross, 22, said superstitions wouldn’t be needed at the Olympics because the team was so well prepared and focused.
The midfielder was a rookie in the squad at the Tokyo Olympics having played just three times for Australia.
Cooney-Cross has come a long way in just three years and now has close to 50 caps.
She has gone from the A-Leagues to the Swedish league and now has a full season at Arsenal in the English WSL under her belt.
“I’m playing with world-class players, I’m getting some minutes there and I played every minute of the World Cup – so it’s going to be completely different this Olympics,” she said.
“I’m going to be more experienced going into Paris and know what to expect.”
Another thing Cooney-Cross will have at the Games that she didn’t in 2021 is sidekick Katrina Gorry.
Matildas veteran Gorry missed the Tokyo Games while pregnant with her daughter Harper.
The midfielders have both played in the Swedish league but for different clubs.
Their combination in the middle of the pitch was pivotal in the Matildas finishing fourth at the World Cup.
“Ever since Mini (Gorry) came back into the squad she just took me under her wing and she’s just been so good,” Cooney-Cross said.
“She’s a mum now and she brings that into camp as well. She has brought the best out of me and she does the same with Charli (Grant).
“I look up to her so much and I’m really looking forward to playing with her again.”
After narrowly missing a medal at the past two major tournaments, Cooney-Cross is determined to help the Matildas bring something home from Paris.
“When you’re that close to getting a medal, being so close and then just missing it, it’s the worst feeling,” Cooney-Cross said.
“Coming fourth at two major tournaments, so close, that is why we’re going to come back home with a medal this time.
“We are really determined to do that. We are all in it together.”
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