Isabel Gomez emerged as the Ninja A-League Grand Final hero on Sunday evening to cap an unforgettable week for the Central Coast Mariners star, aleagues.com.au’s Sacha Pisani reports from AAMI Park.
Fairytales; they are not just for children. Isabel Gomez is proof of that.
In the space of a week, the 22-year-old has scored a 121st-minute winner against unbeaten two-time reigning premiers Melbourne City to send shockwaves through the competition, earned a CommBank Matildas call-up, scored a Grand Final goal and won the Championship on Sunday.
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“It was crazy,” Gomez told The Australian of her Matildas call-up prior to the Grand Final.
“It was a lot of emotions, my mum was trying to wrap her head around it too, she was saying ‘you’re in the Grand Final and the Matildas’, but she was super happy for me.”
On Sunday, Gomez made herself a hero. A minute into the second half, she put the Mariners ahead.
Then, Gomez showed nerves of steel in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. Muttering words to herself as she approaching the spot, she coolly converted amid boos in Melbourne to help deliver a maiden Championship to Central Coast just two seasons after returning from a 14-year hiatus.
This was not just a Mariners fairytale, but a Gomez fairytale in a standout performance.
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In November, the “best-kept secret” earned her maiden international call-up before a knee injury robbed her of the chance to make her Matildas debut in a four-game friendly series against Brazil and Chinese Taipei in late 2024.
It left Gomez sidelined for 12 weeks.
Then, the talented midfielder returned in February and she has not looked back, scoring five goals – including four in her past eight, and in the Semi-Final and Final.
She is now in the midst of the best season of her career with seven goals in 2024-25.
“This season I just feel different,” Gomez told The Australian.
“I feel like I had more confidence and my coach (Emily Husband) has given me more confidence not just as a player but as a person and a leader as well.
“(Husband) has been an awesome coach over the past two years and really instilled confidence in me which is something I’ve been struggling with, a lot of self doubt.”
With Emily Husband in her corner, Gomez and the Mariners are soaring to new heights.
For Gomez, even bigger things could be on the horizon.
