May 2010 Athletes of the Month: the Matildas of Australia

The Australia Ladies national football team, ak.a. the Matildas, staged a remarkable upset in Chengdu (China) at the end of May by winning the Asian Football Confederation regional title for the first time.

Crucially, they also earned their country 100 GSN points, the biggest single contribution of the month.

 

It’s a double upset: they defeated reigning champions Korea DPR, and they are also the first non-Asian country to retain the title. The latter is due to Aussie enterprise, as the country opted out of the Oceania Football Confederation a few years ago in search of tougher international opposition. It was down to their Matildas to show they are on the right track…and we’ll see what the Socceroos men think about this!