By Billie Eder
When Cortnee Vine scored the winning penalty against France in the World Cup quarter-final her life changed forever. Now, she can’t even walk down the street without someone recognising her.
With her new-found fame, you could be forgiven for thinking she had every temptation to take her career overseas, but when it came time to put pen to paper, there was no doubt in her mind about staying with Sydney FC in the A-League competition.
Since scoring the winning penalty in the Matildas’ World Cup game against France, Cortnee Vine’s life has changed.Credit: Getty
“I love Australia, I love Sydney, I have a life here that’s not just football,” Vine said.
“I think a lot of people think it’s [football] your whole life, and I have to make decisions. I have a partner, do I want to leave? There are just a lot of things to weigh up, and for me at the moment I was progressing so well in this league, and my life was so great, that I just don’t see the point in leaving right now.”
After the Matildas’ World Cup success, Vine re-signed with Sydney FC for 2023-24 season, while fellow Matildas’ Kyah Simon joined the Central Coast Mariners and Tameka Yallop signed with Brisbane Roar.
But Vine said more needed to be done to keep players in the domestic competition, and said it was important fans could see their World Cup heroes in Australian stadiums.
Current and former Matildas Chloe Logarzo, Elise Kellond-Knight, Kyah Simon and Cortnee Vine ahead of the start of the A-League this weekend.Credit: Getty
“I think it’s so important [retaining talent]. I think it’s one of the main things we should be focusing on, to bring more of the girls [Matildas players] back,” she said.
“And by doing that we need to make it full-time, we need to pay better and be more professional in this league. It’s getting there, but it still needs so much more work, and that’s why those girls have left, and stayed away because those leagues [overseas] are professional, they pay a lot more than this league, and I just think once we start fixing that they will start to come back.
“But I think it’s so important for our faces to be here. We represent this country, I think it’s so important to be part of the domestic league and to show girls that this is the way we go [pathways].”
The A-League Women’s competition gets under way this weekend after expanding to a 12-team competition with a full home-and-away season for the first time.
But aside from her desire to help Sydney to its seventh-consecutive A-League final, Vine has her heart set on an Olympic debut.
“I’m hoping to be a part of [those Olympic] qualifiers coming up. I really want to go to an Olympics, so if I do get selected, I’ll be doing everything possible to play and also just to qualify,” Vine said. “I really want to be there, and that’s one of the goals on my goals board that I’ve been ticking away at the moment, but that’s one of my dreams.”
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