Women's World Cup 2023

[Katzchen24]

Just wondering if there were any other football/soccer followers on here. Still recovering from the incredibly stressful quarter final last night (Australia v France)......

[KSmom]

@Katzchen24 Glad you started this thread. Australia v. France was a nail biter.

Are you rooting for a particular country? My 3 favorites are out- USA, Brazil, Denmark- but the bracket games are always such beautiful  and exciting football.

[Katzchen24]

4 hours ago, KSmom said:

Australia v. France was a nail biter.

Are you rooting for a particular country? 

I'm Australian and I'm definitely a one-eyed Matildas fan! My partner and I watched the quarter final in a state of permanent incipient heart attack. By the time the penalty shoot-out started (and what a terrible way to pick a winner) we could barely stand to watch the TV. Both of us were pacing around the house like crazy people.

I'm interested in hearing a bit more about US legend Rapinoe. Why do right-wing clowns have it in for her. From as far as I can see, she's an amazing football player with years of experience who's played superbly for the US. I know they don't need much to freak them out, but they seem to have it in for her.

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Katzchen24
Added para about Rapinoe.

[Teaistheway]

Hi, thanks for starting the thread. I've watched when able (can be tricky as a lot is on when I'm at work).

I'm in the UK and an rooting for England (although just like football at this level generally).

Recovering from yesterday's game and looking forward to Wednesday's semi final with Australia...going to be a tough game and a nail-biting 90 minutes for me 😂

[xenobia]

Yes! And I'm Swedish, so you might figure out what team I want to win...

But even though my team might not win, I think it's a win for womens football overall. My only complaint is that the timezones means that most games are really early in the morning. Not my favourite time to watch a game. 

[Womble]

It is great time zones for us in Australia for once! 
 

this game has been amazing in Australia. Everyone is talking about it and watching the games, even men who would not normally watch women’s sport.

We are seeing ac real turning point for women’s sport in Australia!

 

[Zebedee]

Rapinoe has blue hair, does/doesn't kneel - whichever is meant to be "anti-American" and woke, and is openly pro-trans. That's why they hate her, despite her helping to win two world cups. Just look at how much they hate Simone Biles.

I lost a little interest after the group stages. I'm British (now in Germany) but have been a massive German football fan since Euro 96. This world cup, and the last two men's ones, have not been good for us! But Aus-England has drawn me back in, lol. I've just spent 6 weeks following the men and women's Ashes (cricket) - which both ended in draws. Am excited for a result, but torn. I want England to beat Australia in something this year - but I also love it when the hosts win (well, unless they are playing Germany, haha).

My FIL is gripped by it, and my step father. They are both football fans, but now are much more into women's football than the men's. My (English) stepfather and (German) FIL are both cheering on England. My partner couldn't care less. But then, he is the man who sat with his back to the screen when we went out to watch Germany win the World Cup in 2014, so I've given up on him, lol.

[KSmom]

5 hours ago, Katzchen24 said:

I'm Australian and I'm definitely a one-eyed Matildas fan! My partner and I watched the quarter final in a state of permanent incipient heart attack. By the time the penalty shoot-out started (and what a terrible way to pick a winner) we could barely stand to watch the TV. Both of us were pacing around the house like crazy people.

I'm interested in hearing a bit more about US legend Rapinoe. Why do right-wing clowns have it in for her. From as far as I can see, she's an amazing football player with years of experience who's played superbly for the US. I know they don't need much to freak them out, but they seem to have it in for her.

 

Australia has been playing great. I saw signs for Matilda in the stands but don’t know who/ what they refer to.  Could you tell me about it?
Right wingers don’t like Rapinoe for a number of reasons- she’s gay, she kneeled during the anthem during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, and she was a leader in negotiating a fair and equal contract for the women’s soccer team.

[noseybutt]

2 hours ago, Zebedee said:

Rapinoe has blue hair, does/doesn't kneel - whichever is meant to be "anti-American" and woke, and is openly pro-trans. That's why they hate her, despite her helping to win two world cups. Just look at how much they hate Simone Biles.
 

Adding to the above: Rapinoe was raised in Northern California and has none of the demure subservient feminine traits so loved in parts of our country. She is brash and outspoken. Just like basketball players strut and crow on the court, she does the same on the field. 

But what really gets people going— she spoke up loudly for wage parity in women’s soccer, refused to visit the White House when Trump was in office, supports Black Lives Matter.

The thing is, she doesn’t do any of this in isolation. Women’s soccer in the US had many players with similar political leanings. She gets noticed because she’s out and loud.

[Katzchen24]

8 hours ago, KSmom said:

Australia has been playing great. I saw signs for Matilda in the stands but don’t know who/ what they refer to.  Could you tell me about it?
Right wingers don’t like Rapinoe for a number of reasons- she’s gay, she kneeled during the anthem during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, and she was a leader in negotiating a fair and equal contract for the women’s soccer team.

The Australian women's team are nicknamed the Matildas. The name comes from the best known Australian folk song - Waltzing Matilda. In fact, as part of the Welcome to Country ceremony before the game on Saturday night, Uncle Shannon Ruska sang the first verse of Waltzing Matilda in his own Indigenous language and then had the crowd join in for the chorus in English and it was spine-tingling. 

Australia are playing so well at the moment and there's so much hope for them here. Critics of women's sport aren't getting too much airtime for the moment, so the usual suspects for misogynistic ass-hattery are having trouble being heard for once. They're still out there though, and from the descriptions, it sounds like they would hate Rapinoe too. She sounds awesome. 

As @Womble said, it's great that for once the time zones suit us here. Just about every other sporting tournament ever is played in timezones that make it difficult for us to watch things live. My partner is a dyed-in-the-wool Newcastle supporter but even he struggles to get up at 2.30am to watch a game. 

Good luck to everyone supporting Sweden, England and Spain too.......... 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Katzchen24

[jjmennonite]

I am in Canada, and I am a soccer mom of a women soccer player, so that’s how I got into this. My daughter is 30, self driving, self cleaning and off my payroll. However, I will never forget all the years I spent driving her to games and practices, and the community of soccer parents we had. She blew her ACL in soccer, last year, and had reconstruction surgery just over a year ago. Now she’s back playing after 18 months off, and totally thrilled to be back. She doesn’t play at an elite level, but she’s in the A league for amateur soccer, and is likely going to provincials , in a few weeks.

For World Cup I was cheering for Colombia, because Canada got knocked out weeks ago, and I’ve been to Colombia about 4 times. I’ve also lived in England, but Colombia 🇨🇴 was the underdog, in that match. Now that all the South and Central American and Caribbean teams are out, I’m cheering for England. 
 

i heard the Jamaican team had to raise money with go-fund-me, to get to NZ. The Jamaican bobsled team is eternally famous for anyone who was in Calgary for the 1988 Winter Olympics. Of course they lost, but imagine Jamaicans braving the cold to train on a bobsled track. 
 

The women’s world cup football has almost always been won by the USA or Germany. It’s great to see some different countries, for a change. 

Edited August 13, 2023 by jjmennonite
Won and one are not the same.

[Katzchen24]

So the Matildas lost to the Lionesses, and I'm sad about that. Gotta say though, I'm so proud of the team I could burst. Viewing figures for the game on free-to-air TV were just over 11 million which is incredible given that the population of Australia is around 26.2 million. That number isn't inclusive of all the other ways there were to watch. They were awesome and inspirational and I'll be tuning in to watch the game for third spot. 

Congratulations to England and Spain on their places in the finals and may the best team win!

[Jrodseyeliner]

Woohooo fellow Aussie and soccer tragic here.  I am so proud I could burst. 💚💛💚💛
I xannot wait til Sunday and our play off for third but then the gold medal batch. England were so good against us, it will be a good match.  
 

[Teaistheway]

Best of luck to both teams today, obviously I'll bee cheering on the Lionesses.

And a big thank you to all the Teams for a fantastic and,at many times, nail-biting tournament.