SYDNEY (AP) 鈥 Sam Kerr looked up at the Stadium Australia crowd for the last time at this Women's World Cup, and it just compounded the gnawing disappointment that she and her Matildas had fallen one game before the final.
In what has been an immense shift in the Australian public鈥檚 sporting consciousness, nine out of 10 people who watched commercial television on Wednesday night tuned in to see the national women鈥檚 soccer team鈥檚 .
That figure 鈥 an audience reach of 11.5 million and an average audience of 7.13 million reported by the free-to-air host broadcaster 鈥 excludes paid streaming, and those who gathered at dedicated fan zones, where some over-exuberant revelers let off flares, and in pubs and clubs around the country.
鈥淲e鈥檝e kind of captured the nation,鈥 a visibly dejected Kerr said after walking off the pitch. 鈥淭he support we鈥檝e had has been amazing and we鈥檒l do everything we can on the weekend to get them a third place.鈥
has won the golden boot for leading scorer in leagues in Australia, the United States and England, where she's a star for the champion Chelsea team. But her World Cup was heavily curtailed by an injury sustained on the eve of the Matildas' opening game on July 20.
Her left calf muscle become a topic of daily news Down Under, even after she returned as a second-half substitute in the dramatic penalty shootout win over France in the quarterfinals and, finally, started a game for the first time in the semifinal.
She was chopped down by defenders twice in the opening 10 minutes and had a relatively subdued first half, but brought the game to life with her stunning solo goal in the 63rd minute that leveled the score at 1-1 and renewed hope for the Matildas.
鈥淲e just feel really proud that they鈥檝e got behind us and we鈥檝e changed the way women鈥檚 football is seen in Australia,鈥 Kerr added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing. A big thank you.鈥
Kerr, who because she was no longer allowed to play in boys leagues, has seen a phenomenal transformation in the game since she made her international debut in 2009.
At age 15, she went on as a late substitute in a 5-1 loss to Italy at Canberra, Australia's capital, where a crowd of 2,916 would never have believed the evolution that has occurred. She didn't even give her parents much notice that she'd been selected.
In July and August of 2023, she's had the nation's full attention.
Morning news bulletins on Thursday reported the 鈥渉eartbreak鈥 for the Matildas, and daily newspapers across the country once again heavily featured the women鈥檚 national team. A high-profile sports store in downtown Sydney still had the Matildas jerseys 鈥 hard to attain in recent weeks 鈥 on display at full price. There'll be no discounting this team for a while.
The domestic TV audience reported for the quarterfinal win was the biggest in Australia for any event since the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The semifinal broadcast was even bigger 鈥 significantly larger than the biggest men's games in the Aussie rules Australian Football League and the 春色直播 Rugby League that so frequently pull the biggest crowds.
It鈥檚 unlikely Australia's Saturday bronze playoff against Sweden at Brisbane will match the TV audience of the semifinal, but it'll be a decent farewell. England plays Spain on Sunday in the final at Sydney.
Attendance for the first 32-team Women's World Cup has shattered records, with FIFA reporting a combined 1.85 million attendance for the first 62 games at an average 29,888 across 10 venues in Australia and New Zealand. That's 5,000 more than the historical average for the tournament.
The number of news pages devoted to the Matildas was unprecedented for women鈥檚 sport and for soccer in Australia, too. And this is home to the long-time No. 1 women鈥檚 cricket team 鈥 which pulled a crowd exceeding 86,000 for a game against India in 2020 鈥 and world champions in netball.
The fact that an entire nation almost expected the Matildas to win the title says a lot about the pressure Kerr and her 10th-ranked team faced on home soil.
Australia had lost all three previous quarterfinals it reached at the Women鈥檚 World Cup. Only one host, the United States, had ever won a quarterfinal match at the Women鈥檚 World Cup.
So reaching the semifinals had the feel of a final. Tears and emotions poured out of long-time supporters and millions of more recent fans after that last weekend.
Police reported it was vandals who caused a disruption to the train line from Stadium Australia in Sydney's western suburbs back to the city, causing delays of more than 1 1/2 hours Wednesday for some of the 75,000 people who attended the semifinal. For some, it just prolonged the pain.
For others, it's already time to look to the future.
Matildas midfielder Alex Chidiac said the team had created 鈥渁 legacy that鈥檚 going to live on and it obviously has inspired so many people.鈥
鈥淎fter the tournament, we鈥檒l get all that perspective and this will be a lot easier to swallow," she said of the loss. "Obviously right now, it鈥檚 still very fresh. But I think overall (a) massive achievement. . . . we鈥檝e got a whole bunch of passionate fans now, which is cool.鈥
Mary Fowler, a 20-year-old emerging star for Manchester City who had a breakthrough tournament for Australia, will likely be part of that legacy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always really nice, just watching videos and people around the country giving us some love," she said. "It鈥檚 been an unbelievable tournament in that sense."
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