Mackenzie Arnold has proven she is just as good at answering tough questions as she is at stopping penalties by producing a devastating comeback after an England reporter tried to stir up the team’s rivalry with England by presaging a Aussie loss in their World Cup semi-final.
The goalkeeper became a household name and a hero to her teammates when she made three saves in her team’s penalty shootout against France last Saturday, with her stopping shots proving crucial to the home side’s quarter-final victory.
Arnold again showed a safe pair of hands when she was hit with an awkward question by an English journalist at the Matildas press conference on Tuesday, with the reporter raising the specter of an Aussie defeat at Stadium Australia on Wednesday night.
Arnold (pictured during the penalty shootout victory over France) has proven her tenacity, while goalkeeping is matched by her steely attitude with brutal reporters
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After accusing the Aussies and Lionesses of downplaying the age-old duel between the two countries, he said: ‘The truth is that these two countries clearly have a very traditional, long-standing sporting rivalry.
“I’m sure there are many England fans at home who would love to see England knock you out of your own tournament.
“Is the idea of being knocked out of this tournament by England at this stage with a final on the line almost unthinkable to you?”
Arnold replied with a frosty face, “Being knocked out by someone is pretty much unthinkable.
“There are probably a lot of English people who would like us to be knocked out by England, but I think there are more Australians who would like to see England knocked out by us.”
The goalkeeper’s reply elicited a laugh from the assembled reporters before adding, “As for the rivalry, again, we have such a big rivalry with so many different countries, so it’s just a different game for us.”
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson used the press conference as an opportunity to put pressure on England, who go into the semi-finals as favourites.
The goalkeeper’s answer to the curly question elicited a laugh from the media
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson was keen to turn up the pressure on the Lionesses, pointing out the many advantages they have over his team
Whether the Matildas would start off as underdogs, Gustavsson responded, “In terms of favoritism and who the favorites are, I’ll leave it to you (the media) to speculate and write about that.”
But the Swede then pointed to all the luxuries England have over the Matildas, including the suggestion that their women’s program had a larger budget than Football Australia’s entire national teams programme.
“If you look at the rankings, those are the favourites. If you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs and top leagues around the world – not just 11, they have 15, 16,” he said.
‘And then you compare with us: we have bench players in those teams. We have players who play in the A-League, we have players who play in mid-table teams in Sweden.
Gustavsson’s counterpart Sarina Wiegman (pictured) admitted she had to ask her players to fill her in on the depth of the sporting rivalry between England and Australia
Arnold was referring to the fact that millions of Aussies will be hoping for a repeat of the wild celebrations after victory over France (pictured) in the full game against England
“So when you look at all of that and you look at the financial resources, they’re clearly a huge favorite for this game.
“But then if you add the belief that we have, but the one thing we have that they don’t have is the support and belief of the fans and that will be huge tomorrow.”
The English counterpart Sarina Wiegman responded: ‘First of all, I don’t think they are an underdog.
“They play at home. The stadium will be really full.
“There are two teams that are very good, very strong, that have grown in the tournament.
“So I think it’s going to be very tight and very, very competitive and we approach the game like any other game.”
Wiegman had previously confessed that she should ask her players to inform her of the depth of the sporting enmity between the two countries.
“It’s probably going to be bigger than I imagined,” Wiegman said.
“So I’ll talk to my players and staff and see what rivalry is.”