Home Football Matildas set off on Asian Cup journey to prove home sequel can...

Matildas set off on Asian Cup journey to prove home sequel can be better than the original

75

The 2023 World Cup entranced Australia but continental showpiece could end in a fairytale with only four sides that should trouble the host nation

The Women’s Asian Cup is a sequel with a difference. Not bigger, and surely not better than the magnificent 2023 World Cup, when the Matildas entranced Australia during their run to the semi-finals.

But there is enough intrigue in the script – coaching frenemies, unlikely injury comebacks, last hurrahs, footballing minnows and mirrors of multicultural Australia, even fairytale romance – that it will hold the nation’s football community riveted. Whether the continental championship bursts out into a broader cultural phenomenon, however, will be one of the compelling questions of the next three weeks.

Continue reading…The 2023 World Cup entranced Australia but continental showpiece could end in a fairytale with only four sides that should trouble the host nationThe Women’s Asian Cup is a sequel with a difference. Not bigger, and surely not better than the magnificent 2023 World Cup, when the Matildas entranced Australia during their run to the semi-finals.But there is enough intrigue in the script – coaching frenemies, unlikely injury comebacks, last hurrahs, footballing minnows and mirrors of multicultural Australia, even fairytale romance – that it will hold the nation’s football community riveted. Whether the continental championship bursts out into a broader cultural phenomenon, however, will be one of the compelling questions of the next three weeks. Continue reading…