Women’s Football World Cup: Emily Gielnik reveals torment before Matildas selection revealed

Emily Gielnik is acutely aware of what it feels like to be dealt devastating news, so when she got a call from the Matildas team manager and was kept guessing, that familiar feeling of dread returned.

Emily Gielnik found out about her place the hard way.

• Teen sensation wins Cup berth for Matildas
• Injury toll which cruelled star’s Cup campaign

When Emily Gielnik first picked up the phone to hear her World Cup fate, she had a horrible flashback of the moment she got cut from the Rio Olympics squad.

The Matildas forward is acutely aware of what it feels like to be dealt devastating news, having also missed out on selection for the 2015 World Cup.

So when she got a call from Matildas team manager Vito Basile and he kept her guessing reality TV style, that familiar feeling of dread started to return.

Emily Gielnik found out about her place the hard way.

“I got a phone call last night,” Gielnik said after being announced for her debut World Cup in France on Tuesday.

“It was a bit strange because it was my birthday. I’d been told to sit on this couch, and I was quite annoyed because I hoped no one had organised a party for me. I hoped people weren’t turning up.

“It was really weird. I was just sat on this couch and got told to do my button. Then Vito called me and to be honest he was a really good actor. He had me sweating for about a minute there.

"I am crying, but it's a good cry!"

Watch the moment @EGielnik found out she made the squad for France 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/jgKHYx3cIl

— Westfield Matildas (@TheMatildas) May 14, 2019

“I was almost in devastation. ‘He said like, ‘how do I think I’ve been going lately? What’s my performances?’ And I was like ‘what do you mean?’

“I didn’t want to sound, like, cocky or anything, but I think I’ve been doing all right. But you never know.

“He said, ‘look, this is always a hard phone call, a hard decision to make’. That’s what got me, and if you’ve seen the video it’s that point I was in a bit of shock.

“And there was a few seconds there that I thought, ‘not again’. I just had a horrible feeling in my stomach and thought ‘you’re kidding, he’s calling me to tell me I’m not going ... and then he changed his tune, and it was good news.”

While Gielnik was elated to discover she’d been wrong, she also empathised with those not selected.

“I’ve been on the same end as those girls who didn’t make the squad,” she said.

“It’s always quite a hard time and I’m very emotionally invested for them.”

Originally published as Women’s Football World Cup: Emily Gielnik reveals torment before Matildas selection revealed