Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed his country’s female footballers with words of comfort after missing out on the final at the home World Cup.
“Every single ‘Matilda’ has brought us joy throughout this World Cup,” the 60-year-old politician wrote on Twitter (X). He has no doubt that the next generation of “Matildas” has been watching.
“We will all cheer for you on Saturday,” promised Albanese, looking ahead to the match for third place in Brisbane against Sweden (10:00 a.m. CEST, live on ORF1).
Fans break through barricades
The “Matildas” had triggered a huge hype with the semi-finals in their own country, before the 1: 3 defeat against England in Sydney people broke through the barricades at Federation Square in Melbourne to get into a fan zone. Australian media reported on this on Wednesday.
Thousands of fans had previously crowded the square in Australia’s second largest metropolis. After some people forced their way into the public viewing area, hundreds more devotees made their way to the already crowded square. Security forces had already cordoned off the fan zone for other visitors at 7 p.m. local time – around an hour before kick-off.