Sydney FC and Matildas star Cortnee Vine sat down with KEEPUP to talk about her memorable FIFA Women’s World Cup experience and the upcoming Liberty A-League season.
There are some familiar faces back in the Liberty A-League after a FIFA Women’s World Cup that shattered records and captivated an entire nation. That is also part of the reason the 2023-24 season is shaping up as the biggest one yet.
Cortnee Vine was at the heart of the Matildas’ historic run to the World Cup semi-finals and she returns to the A-League Women with defending champions Sydney FC as a national hero.
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She is the headline act this season, along with a number of high-profile Matildas, including Chloe Logarzo, Elise Kellond-Knight and Tameka Yallop.
Vine highlighted the importance of fans and the next generation of footballers to see the pathway from the domestic competition to the Matildas.
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“It’s great to see some familiar faces back in the league,” she told KEEPUP.
“It’s really important especially post this World Cup to continue the momentum and for girls to see the familiar faces they saw on TVs and in stadiums playing at this major tournament and now they will be able to see us in the Liberty A-League.
“For them to know that majority of girls actually came through this league and this is the pathway to go through to become a Matildas. It’s really important.
“We have to keep building off this momentum. It’s been an amazing World Cup and everyone’s got around it but it’s time to get around the domestic league as well.”
Vine rejected interest from clubs abroad to re-sign with Liberty A-League champions Sydney after her World Cup exploits.
Prior to the World Cup on home soil, she had often spoken about imposter syndrome.
However, the 25-year-old showed she belongs throughout the showpiece tournament Down Under.
She scored the winning penalty in the dramatic penalty shoot-out win over France en route to the semi-finals, while she also netted seven goals and supplied eight assists as Sydney did the double in 2022-23.
“I think I was pinching myself everyday at the World Cup. It didn’t feel real,” Vine said.
“It was one of those things I’ve had on my wall as a goal since I started playing football. To then be able to do it, live it, be at the stadiums, sing the national anthem and verse the best players in the world… it’s a dream come true.
“I pinch myself every day.”
Almost 50,000 fans packed into Suncorp Stadium to watch the Matildas top France in the quarter-finals.
The match delivered Australia’s highest rating TV sport program of the past decade as Vine stepped up to convert the winning penalty.
Asked to talk about her now iconic penalty, Vine said: “I’ve been asked that a lot – how I felt in that moment, walking up to take the penalty did I hear the crowd? What was it like? What was the pressure like?
“It’s crazy because in that moment I don’t think I thought about any of that. It was one of those bizarre feelings – an out-of-body experience of I was so in the moment and focused, I just wanted to put the ball in the back of the net.
“That’s all I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking about how many people were watching, the crowd or the pressure of that moment. I wasn’t living that. I felt like I was out of my body and just doing what we’d been practicing for the last 10 weeks, which was taking a penalty.”
Vine’s World Cup has opened up a whole new world for the 22-time Australia international.
“Even a podcast that I listen to religiously reached out and wanted me on there,” she recalled.
“I was like ‘oh my god’.
“Again it doesn’t feel like it was me that took that penalty. So all this reaction is overwhelming to be honest.
“But it’s amazing we’re all talking about women’s football and we want to engage more.”
Now, it is all about Sydney and the Liberty A-League.
The Sky Blues kick-off their title defence with a mouth-watering derby against Western Sydney Wanderers at Allianz Stadium on October 14.
“I always look forward to derbies and it being at Allianz Stadium, and hopefully getting a pretty decent ground there, is a fantastic setup for the league,” Vine said.
“For me to be back and playing in Sky Blue, I’m hoping to come out and impress.”
