Barnaby Joyce reveals why he watched the wrong Matildas match at his local pub and missed the penalty shootout against France
Barnaby Joyce has revealed he watched the wrong Matildas match at his local pub on Saturday night and missed the heart-pounding penalty shoot-out against France.
Sam Kerr and her teammates have achieved what no Australian team – male or female – has ever done before: secure a spot in a FIFA World Cup semi-final.
Having beaten France 7-6 after a thrilling 120 minutes of play and the longest shootout in Cup history, the Matildas now set their sights on playing England’s Lionesses on Wednesday.
The Quarterfinals is the highest-rated TV sports program since Cathy Freeman’s win at the 2000 Olympics — and Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce missed it all.
Speaking to Seven’s Sunrise on Monday morning, the National Party politician revealed they had the wrong Matildas match at the country pub he attended – and no one realized the mistake.
Joyce missed the thrilling penalty shootout that took Australia to the semi-finals (pictured, Matildas players celebrate victory)
“I went to the pub at the weekend to watch it,” he said.
“And you’ll see it on the Facebook post – I think we were watching the wrong game.
“I think they did a rerun because it was on Channel Ten.
“Don’t think it was the right one because when we finished the game Australia had won 1 – 0.
“So we were like, that’s good — we still won.”
The fact that the game he watched featured the Channel Ten watermark – and the result was a 1-0 win against Australia – means the pub is watching a repeat of the Matildas’ victory over Les Bleues in their World Cup warm-up match on July 14 has repeated.
Joyce also denounced plans to give Aussies a holiday if the Matildas win the tournament and asked why Aussies should be given time off to celebrate the national team and not other sides.
“I think it’s a really good reason for the Matildas to take the day off. But look, why didn’t we have a day off after the Diamonds won (the Netball World Cup)?’ he said.
Joyce watched a replay of Australia’s July 14 friendly with France – and came away believing the Aussies had won their World Cup quarter-final 1-0
Joyce thinks Aussies shouldn’t get a day off if the Matildas (pictured celebrating victory over Les Bleues) win the tournament
“I mean they would have put in as much effort as anyone else. If we do well at the Olympics, will we have a day off afterwards?
“We just have to be very careful about taking days off, because in the end someone pays. I mean, it’s not like it’s free.
‘Someone has to pay and that is mainly the small companies. And if I asked you, “Would you like to pay for a day off from your colleagues?” you’d probably say no.
The Matildas play against England on Wednesday evening in Sydney, with the winner taking on Spain or Sweden in the final next Sunday.