It’s all come down to this, the Matildas are one win away from their first-ever grand final and potential World Cup title. Standing in their way is Australia’s oldest sporting rival, England. Australia will be behind the Tillies watching the match, kicking off at 8:00 pm on Seven and Optus Sport.
All eyes were on Seven for the Matildas on Saturday night as the girls brought it home at the last possible moment. After some super close calls as seen with Mary Fowler’s open goal shot that was saved out of nowhere and a determined French side, the match went all the way to penalty shootouts, an outcome nobody ever wants.
The Tillies got the job done however with some amazing saves from Goalie Mackenzie Arnold and a winning shot from Cortnee Vine that took them to the Semi-Finals. The game marks the biggest solo channel viewership of 2023 so far and a landmark moment for Women’s sports in Australia.
While it’s still unclear if Sam Kerr will start in the match, Coach Tony Gustavsson said in a pre-match conference that Kerr pushed through more minutes than they initially hoped for in the quarter-final against France.
“One of the reasons we kept her on the bench was that we were uncertain how many minutes she had (in her) coming back from the calf injury and the limited training she had.
“The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive, both from a mental and physical aspect.
“She recovered well and she trained today so she’s available.”
Matilda’s lineup:
Lydia Williams
Teagan Micah
Mackenzie Arnold
Courtney Nevin
Aivi Luik
Clare Polkinghorne
Steph Catley
Alanna Kennedy
Clare Hunt
Ellie Carpenter
Charlotte Grant
Cortnee Vine
Clare Wheeler
Alex Chidiac
Caitlin Foord
Emily van Egmond
Mary Fowler
Tameka Yallop
Hayley Raso
Kyah Simon
Katrina Gorry
Sam Kerr
Kyra Cooney-Cross
Australia vs England kicks off at 8:00 pm AEST on Seven, 7plus and Optus Sport.
See also: Matildas World Cup TV ratings: Matildas v France clash sets new Seven and Optus Sport records