The mood remained buoyant as a sea of yellow and green filled Stadium Australia at Sydney Olympic Park, becoming part of the biggest crowd ever for a women’s soccer match in Australia, announced at 75,784 on Thursday.
“Who wouldn’t want to be here for the first match?” asked Katie Lynn, who traveled from Adelaide, 850 miles (1,370 kilometers) away, with girlfriend Jasmine Williamson. “I have not been to a sporting event this big before. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Williamson summed up the mood perfectly: “People that aren’t even football fans are interested.”
Sydney’s famed sporting atmosphere seemed subdued in the days leading up to the match. But game day brought out the fans, including a man dressed in a kangaroo costume who identified himself only as “Skippy.”
“Just coming down on the train, people were everywhere,” said Vanessa Ronksley, who lives in Sydney's eastern beachside suburb of Coogee. “We can feel it now.”
Long-time friends Anthony Dunne and Kiaran Bannon were among those who stopped by the FIFA Fan Festival at Tumbalong Park, on the southern edge of Darling Harbour. They came from Ireland to watch their national team’s first-ever Women’s World Cup match.
“Even before we (Ireland) qualified, we said, ‘If we get through, we’re going,’” Dunne said. “My girlfriend was in work, and pregnant at the time, and I rang her after the (qualifying) match, and basically asked for permission.”
The excitement of the Australian fans was dampened for a while by the announcement an hour before kickoff that Matildas star and captain Sam Kerr would miss the match because of a calf muscle injury. She will also miss the July 27 match against Nigeria in Brisbane.
But Australia’s 1-0 victory gave reason for fans to be jubilant, even in Kerr’s absence.
“I haven’t stopped crying,” said Canberra resident Lydia Randall, who was in Canada in 2015 when Australia reached the World Cup quarterfinals. "All the girls deserve this.”
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Abby Halpin and Zeke Palermo are students at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports