Macca keeps her focus and kicks on

Mackenzie Arnold has become a household name. “A pretty big whirlwind for me,” says the Matildas goalkeeper. And no, she doesn‘t know why you can’t buy her jersey.

Matildas keeper Mackenzie Arnold during a training session at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.Picture: Jonathan Ng

Goalkeepers have stolen the World Cup. Brave of heart. Broad of shoulder. They’ve been brilliant. Doves in gloves. Overshadowing the strikers. You’ve gotta be tough for this gig. You’re about to be a zero or hero.

Holy moly, the goalie! Mackenzie Arnold has starred in an Australian shirt you cannot buy in a sports store. Golden Matildas jerseys are everywhere but the off-Broadway ’keeper’s strip is unavailable for purchase. Probably because no one was interested before Arnold’s steely-eyed, resolute, physically courageous and somewhat outrageous performances in the Matildas’ march to the World Cup semi-final against England.

Her opposite number, Mary Earps, hasn’t been far behind ­Arnold and Sweden’s Zecira Musovic as goal-stoppers turned showstoppers. Suffer the children and adults left in the lurch when it comes to buying their merch.

Arnold’s become a household name. Bigger than Graham. Tougher than Schwarzenegger. This Macca’s the only one that’s good for you. I’m not entirely sure what a meme is, but apparently there’s a few around that have her as a brick wall in goal for Australia.

There’s a compliment. Holy moly, the goalie.

“I guess the last couple of days have been a pretty big whirlwind for me,” she says. “Probably the first time I’ve received attention like that. But at the same time I just tend to block it out because I know, to be honest, if I play like shit tomorrow it could be a whole different attention on me.

“I know the good comes with the bad and I’m just trying to take it in my stride.”

She tends to block it out. There’s a bit of goalkeeper ­humour for you. If she offers you a tip, it’ll be over the bar. In four of the Matildas’ five games, she hasn’t conceded a goal outside of the penalty shootout against France. She was given her own shot at goal because she’s been nailing them at training.

Then she saved another penalty to trigger the Matildas’ win. From hero to zero and hero. She’ll take another penalty if required against the Lionesses.

“I am ready if I have to take one,” she says. “Hopefully I don’t. I wanted to try to do my job for the team (against France) and unfortunately in that specific instance I didn’t. I’ll always want to do my job for the team so if it has to happen again, yes, I will be ready.

“I’m confident enough to take that position if called upon. I’ve definitely taken penalties in the past. In the national team, no. I’ve haven’t played too much so definitely not as a penalty taker.

“But for West Ham back in England I have taken a few and at previous clubs as well.”

On Arnold’s switch from catching to kicking, Gustavsson says: “I made that decision. We’d done a tremendous amount of training for PKs (penalty kicks). Taking PKs, Macca has been outstanding in terms of statistics and the way she strikes the ball. You can see how good she is with her feet and her mental strength.”

Holy moly. The goalie took the Matildas’ fifth penalty against France. The equivalent to batting in the top order in a cricket side.

She’s a feisty athlete, pumping her fists and roaring in her highest moments, and you would think she’s buzzing with Australia-­England sporting animosity and all the atmosphere it will generate in Sydney. Not so. It’s another thing she’s blocking out. Boom-tish.

“I mean, yeah, obviously there’s a massive rivalry between Australia and England with sports all over the place,” she says. ­“Obviously it’s going to be no different tomorrow, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of rivalries in football with Brazil, USA, New Zealand. So I think tomorrow is going to be just another game.

“We’re trying to focus on one game at a time and really focus on ourselves and our own game plan rather than getting caught up in the rivalry.”

Arnold is one of umpteen Matildas who’ve improved out of sight by playing in the English Super League. All of England’s players, she’s literally see them all before.

“All of us that play over in that league, we can say it’s a different world,” she says. “Honestly. Coming from the W-League to going over there, the amount of professionalism and talent they have, and the investment and time they put into their clubs and players, it just really shows in the progress individually and the game as a whole.”

Arnolds’ ten teammates are lit up like the sun in their gold shirts, occasionally wearing a pale ocean blue. Her shirts are purple or Johnny Cash-black. But they’ve never been viewed as marketable.

“Obviously it would be really cool to see kids or anyone really with the goalkeeper jersey,” she says. “Especially seeing how well goalkeepers have done throughout this whole tournament. Why they don’t sell them, I’m not too sure. I haven’t looked too much into it. Sort-of been more focused on the World Cup. But in terms of selling them – that would be quite cool in the future. Yes.”