Editor’s Desk: The lasting legacy of the Matildas’ World Cup campaign is about much more than just winning

Hear me out as you read this: maybe it’s not a bad thing that the Matildas didn’t win the World Cup. Before you write me off as a traitor, I want to assure you I was loudly and proudly cheering on the Matildas through their rollercoaster journey and was crushed when they fell short in the semis — especially because it was at the hands (or more specifically, feet and heads) of our arch-nemesis, England. But what I am getting at is that the Tillies have forged a legacy that will hopefully be much bigger and longer lasting than simply winning or losing a sporting match. The grit, determination, sportsmanship and sheer class of the Matildas is what has shone through brightest during their World Cup campaign and should be the biggest inspiration to old and young. I would have loved to see the Matildas reach the pinnacle, but it’s good to teach kids as young as possible that winning isn’t everything, in sport and in life. It’s how you conduct yourself on and off the pitch, the effort you put in, how you handle pressure and how you treat others which are far more important and valuable life lessons. So if they are the biggest takeaways that the next generation of Matildas will grab hold of from this World Cup, then the current crop of players should stand and take a bow. They are prime examples that you can still win when you lose. Although many people would have been feeling flat and disappointed after Wednesday night’s loss, it was coupled with an overwhelming sense of pride. Seeing crowds of 70,000 to 80,000 cheering on women in sport gave me goosebumps. The excruciatingly tense penalty shootout against France and Sam Kerr’s insane long-range goal in the semis will go down in sporting folklore, while players like Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Mackenzie Arnold, Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley and Hayley Russo have joined Kerr to become household names. However, it must be remembered that huge chasms still exist between men and women’s sport. Sticking with soccer, the average professional male player in Europe can earn up to $2 million a year, while the average for a female in the same position is less than $100,000. FIFA’s prize pool for the Women’s World Cup is $150m compared with $440m for last year’s Men’s World Cup. When you think about it: the women have just delivered ratings gold and boosted the game no end, so there’s a fair argument for equal pay, or more equitable at the very least. The final word should go to WA superstar Kerr, who put aside her own gut-wrenching disappointment post-match after the semifinal defeat to issue a plea for better funding from the grassroots up. “Hopefully we’ve got a few more fans that will stick around, but now it’s time for funding and all of that stuff to be invested in the game, because this is the world game for a reason,” Kerr said. “We need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots, we need funding everywhere. “The comparison to other sports isn’t really good enough and hopefully this tournament changes that because that’s the legacy you leave, not what you do on the pitch; the legacy is what you do off the pitch.” One last thing: just remember the current crop of Matildas isn’t done yet. We go for Bronze on Saturday. And bring on Paris 2024!