Thousands of soccer followers marched over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday to mark 25 days earlier than the Women’s World Cup begins in Australia and New Zealand.
Football’s governing physique FIFA estimated round 4,000 braved chilly temperatures to participate within the early morning occasion on the famed bridge, which was quickly closed to visitors.
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Co-hosts Australia and New Zealand kick off the 32-team event on July 20 when the Matildas play Ireland in Sydney and the Football Ferns face Norway in Auckland.
FIFA says a couple of million tickets have been offered for the 64 video games in 9 host cities, surpassing complete gross sales for the 2019 World Cup in France.
FIFA official Rhiannon Martin instructed AFP she anticipated this yr’s event could be a “milestone” for girls’s soccer in Australia.
“We’ve seen how girls’s soccer has developed right here over the past years,” added Martin, who’s head of FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Matildas alumni gathered as one to have a good time the looming event.Source: News Corp Australia
FIFA has stated every participant on the World Cup will earn at the least $30,000 USD, with the winners taking house $270,000 USD apiece.
Martin stated the increase to the prize cash pot confirmed that “girls’s soccer is de facto being valued”.
James Johnson, chief government of Football Australia, instructed AFP it “begins to bridge the hole” between prize cash for the lads’s and ladies’s World Cup.
“We nonetheless have a bit of labor to do over the following 4 years, however being the World Cup the place the raise occurred makes us very proud,” he added.
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Thousands of followers participated within the occasion.Source: News Corp Australia
US STAR SKIPS HIGH SCHOOL GRAD FOR WORLD CUP
The US girls’s nationwide crew are favourites to say a third-straight World Cup title, however coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a daring squad for the upcoming event after being hit by a raft of accidents.
Forwards Catarino Macario, Mallory Swanson and Christen Press, midfielder Sam Mewis, and standout centre-back duo Becky Sauerbrunn (captain) and Abby Dahlkemper are all lacking.
Rose Lavelle is included however hasn’t performed since April 8 as she recovers from a knee harm, whereas Julie Ertz has solely returned the identical month after maternity depart since 2021.
Matildas title provisional World Cup crew | 01:06
While there are some veterans – Alex Morgan, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe will likely be taking part in of their fourth Cups – fourteen of the 23 gamers will likely be competing of their first World Cup.
25-year-old midfielder Savannah DeMelo has by no means performed for the USWNT, the primary uncapped participant to achieve a USWNT roster since 2003.
And 18-year-old ahead Alyssa Thompson is having fun with her beautiful rise, turning into the second-youngest participant to be named in a US World Cup squad in historical past.
Thompson performed for the US within the U-20 World Cup simply final yr earlier than turning into the No. 1 general choose within the NWSL Draft in January.
After being named to the crew, her response was unbelievable.
“I missed my commencement however I’m going to the World Cup, so it’s give and take. It’s actually loopy to me as a result of it was simply two weeks in the past that I graduated,” she stated.
FULL USWNT SQUAD
Goalkeepers (3): Alyssa Naeher, Casey Murphy, Aubrey Kingsbury
Defenders (7): Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Alana Cook, Emily Sonnett, Kelley O’Hara, Sofia Huerta
Midfielders (7): Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Julie Ertz, Andi Sullivan, Savannah DeMelo, Ashley Sanchez, Kristie Mewis
Forwards (6): Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, Megan Rapinoe, Alyssa Thompson, Lynn Williams
