Cathy Freeman urges Matildas to ‘do it’ for themselves at the FIFA Women’s World Cup

The Matildas’ bid to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup has been boosted by words of wisdom and inspiration from Cathy Freeman.

A starstruck and emotional Matildas squad has been urged by Australian sporting legend Cathy Freeman to “do it for yourself” rather than be weighed down by the expectations of a nation in trying to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil.

Much to the surprise and delight of the Matildas, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games 400m gold medallist Freeman – a hero of several of the players – visited them recently in Melbourne.

And if the Matildas needed any more inspiration to be crowned world champions next month, Freeman provided it,

“A lot of girls were very emotional,” Matildas veteran Aivi Luik said ahead of Australia’s opening match of the tournament against Ireland on Thursday night in Sydney.

“I still can’t believe that happened because a couple years ago, we were going through some questions about who your sporting hero is and why, and over half the team said that Cathy Freeman was their hero.

“The staff, because of that, tried to get her in, and bless her heart, she came in.

“She doesn’t do a lot of public speaking but she did that for us. We asked her questions informally and she spoke back to us just like she was a friend, and we got a lot of good insight from that.”

Aivi Luik and the Matildas have been inspired by the words and achievements of Cathy Freeman. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

What stuck with Luik the most from speaking to Freeman was for the Matildas to think of themselves in trying to win the World Cup.

“She told us was that we know who we are, we know why we do this, and while we want to perform and give results for others outside the circle, at the end of the day, you believe in yourself and you do it for yourself,” Luik said.

“All athletes do what they do because they love the sport, and (Freeman said) to not lose track of that, and that gives you the confidence to go out there and do your job.”

Luik was still in awe of Freeman being able to cope with the “weight of the nation” on her soldiers when competing as an individual athlete at the Olympics 23 years ago,

“She was just one and we’re a whole team, so I think we’re quite lucky in that regard that we have our friends and teammates there to support each other,” Luik said,

“We came away from that feeling a little bit of a weight off our shoulders, and just completely inspired.”

At 38 and having come out of international retirement early last year at the request of Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson, Luik said being selected for a World Cup being co-hosted by Australia was the “greatest achievement and opportunity” of her career.

“Any player would dream about going to a World Cup, and representing their country first and foremost, but to do both of those things on home soil – it’s incredible,” she said.

“It’s not even a dream because we wouldn’t have dreamt it earlier, but now it’s happening and it’s just incredible.

“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that I’d be sitting here today but it’s a complete blessing.

“We’re truly honoured, and we want to just take this opportunity, and do the best with it as we can.”

Originally published as Cathy Freeman urges Matildas to ‘do it’ for themselves at the FIFA Women’s World Cup