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Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes when the Australian women’s soccer team isn’t on the field? Or how the players felt when Tony Gustavsson was appointed as their new coach?
Maybe you want to know how Sam Kerr copes with the constant media attention she receives as one of the world’s best strikers, or what she’s like at home? All this and more is revealed in the documentary Matildas: The World At Our Feet.
Australia vs USA in 2021, a still from Matildas: The World At Our Feet.Credit: Disney+
Released earlier this year, the six-part series is an ideal primer for everyone who has fallen in love with the Matildas over the past few weeks and wants to know more about them.
Produced for Disney+ by Barking Mad Productions and Station 10 Media in association with Fremantle and Boardwalk Pictures, the series is directed by Australian filmmaker Katie Bender Wynn.
It includes one-on-one interviews with the players, fly-on-the-wall action with access to the team inside the rooms and on the field, in strategy meetings and provides context to the team’s journey towards the World Cup.
“Pressure comes from bad performances and bad results,” says captain Sam Kerr in the doco . “I mean, this is sport, we’re under pressure, Tony’s under pressure. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what the media says or what other people say, the most important thing is to get results.”
Australia vs Phillippines in 2021. Credit: Disney+
Kerr was speaking ahead of the 2022 Asian Cup, when the Matildas had slipped from fourth in the world to 12th.
Her words resonate powerfully in the aftermath of her team’s shock loss against Nigeria last week and its vindication 4-0 win against reigning Olympic champions Canada on Monday.
Kerr is the star of the show, with her unaffected charm, sense of humour and humility, as well as her skill, leadership and sportsmanship revealed and underlined throughout. Asked about an article that suggests her goals “are not equal” to her male counterpart Socceroo Tim Cahill’s when she matched the number he had kicked, the Perth-born star says she is offended not so much personally, but for all the young girls reading such nonsense.
It’s an insight into why the fight for respect, equal rights and recognition is ongoing for the Matildas. Frustratingly, only the local team’s games are being aired on free-to-air television, despite the 2023 FIFA World Cup being the biggest event in sport locally since the Sydney Olympics.
Ellie Carpenter speaks about her move to Lyon, which she describes as the football capital of the world, from Cowra in New South Wales. The 23-year-old defender is shown learning to speak French, marvelling that a one-hour flight from her adopted city sees her in another country, and wondering how life would have been had she never left the tiny town in which she grew up.
Stephanie Catley, who also plays for Arsenal, started with East Bentleigh as a child, the only girl on her brother’s team. She gives an insight into the Matildas’ overarching philosophy. “When I came into the team, it was on the inside of our jerseys, right above your heart, ‘Never Say Die’,” the 29-year-old defender says.
The six-part Disney+ documentary on the Matildas is an excellent primer for anyone watching the FIFA World Cup.Credit: Disney+
Footage of the Matildas versus Indonesia in January 2022 – where the team cleaned up with an 18-0 win – shows cleaners in hazmat suits and empty stadiums, in a glimpse of the surreal reality that was international sport during the pandemic.
As well as the players, the series provides an insight into the Matilda’s head coach – former US assistant coach – Gustavsson. Announced as head of the women’s team in 2020, the 49-year-old Swede had his work cut out for him, needing to “blood the next generation of Matildas”, as well as preparing his team for the most important tournament of their lives.
“When you feel uncertain and it feels scary, that develops you in preparing to play the World Cup on home soil. We need to be comfortable being uncomfortable and we need to be brave enough to do it against the best in the world,” he says at one point, showing something of his philosophy, one the team has embraced at least until this critical point in the World Cup.
Facing off against Denmark next week, who are ranked 13th, the Matildas will no doubt hope to channel the same focus and vision evident in abundance against Canada this week.
As Gustavsson says to the players several times in the documentary: “Urgent, but no stress.”
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
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