Barnaby Joyce brutally roasted over Matildas fail
Barnaby Joyce was mercilessly roasted on live TV after making a baffling admission about how he spent his Saturday as the Matildas made history.
Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has been brutally roasted on live TV after he revealed he watched the wrong Matildas’ soccer match at his local pub on Saturday.
The Matildas made history on Saturday by becoming the first Australian soccer team to secure a spot in the FIFA World Cup semi-final with a heart-stopping penalty shootout victory against France.
After a scoreless draw in 120 minutes, the shootout was as tense as it could be.
It was the longest shootout in World Cup history — men’s or women’s — going 10 rounds with Australia coming out on top 7-6.
Here’s the video of Barnaby Joyce at the pub accidentally watching the Matildas’ FRIENDLY against France, not the quarter final. #auspol#fifawwchttps://t.co/hQpyvptzVopic.twitter.com/f1F2D0CF8o
— Naveen Razik (@naveenjrazik) August 14, 2023
But it appeared Joyce missed all the action with his local pub mistakenly rescreening Australia’s friendly match with France from July.
“I went to the pub to watch it on the weekend,” he explained on Sunrise.
“And you’ll see it on the Facebook post – I think we were watching the wrong game.”
Mr Joyce said he “didn’t think it was the right one because when we finished the game Australia had won 1-0 at full time”.
“So we were like, that’s good – we still won.”
Sunrise host Natalie Barr and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who was on a panel with Mr Joyce, looked completely gobsmacked.
Barr then clarified: “Did you see there was a penalty shootout like nothing we have seen in men’s or women’s soccer?”
“No,” Joyce said. “Australia just won, won 1-0. I think it was a previous game. Whatever happened it was pretty dodgy.”
On Saturday Joyce uploaded footage of himself watching the supposed Matildas game at the local pub .
He wrote: “In every country pub, city club, suburban home they are doing this tonight. Watching the Matilda’s. If someone had said 10 years ago that you would leave after the local rugby game to watch the “women’s soccer” I don’t think they would have agreed.”
Social media users were flabbergasted by the mixup.
One asked incredulously: “how do you mix that up?”
Another joked, “I’m surprised Barnaby is still upright!”
While another fumed that Joyce was at one stage “the second most powerful leader in our country”.
“This is why the sport lacks any government funding. They have no idea.”
The thrilling match smashed Australian TV rating records as the most watched event since Cathy Freeman won gold at the Sydney Olympics.
Channel 7’s coverage of Saturday night’s World Cup quarterfinal had an average audience of 4.17 million, an incredible number given many Australians were out and about watching the games in pubs or public spaces.
According to the OzTAM ratings, the free-to-air viewership was a staggering 3.8 million and another 427,000 watched on 7 plus, making the game the most streamed TV program ever in Australia.
The total overall audience peaked at 7.2 million during the penalty shootout.
It was another huge increase on the more than 3.5 million Aussies that tuned into watch the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Denmark in the round of 16.
The bonkers ratings figure of more than 4 million surpassed the 3.6 million that watched Ash Barty’s droughtbreaking Australian Open win last year.
Even more remarkable, the Matildas’ win over France was the most watched TV event since a staggering 8.8 million watched Freeman win gold in the 400m in Sydney 23 years ago.
The penalty shootout victory attracted more viewers than Lleyton Hewitt’s Australian Open final loss in 2005 and the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup final defeat to England in 2003.
It’s feasible the Matildas could break their own record in just a few days when they take on England in the semi-finals on Wednesday night.
carla.mascarenhas@news.com.au
Socceroos’ ‘catastrophic’ effort against China
Tony Popovic’s Socceroos have come in for some heavy criticism after a disappointing start to their World Cup qualifier against China.
What the road to 2026 looks like for Popovic’s Socceroos
With change afoot for the struggling Socceroos there is no time to waste on their mission to reach the 2026 World Cup. Find out what’s gone wrong and how they can still reach North America here.
‘Out of gas’: Socceroos speak out as Arnie quits in WC shock
Australia is on the hunt for a new coach - and already has several names in mind - after longtime mentor Graham Arnold quit in the midst of a dismal start to their World Cup qualification.