Women's Wold Cup: Australia 'disappointed' after losing semi-final to England

After losing the Women's World Cup semi-final to England's Lionesses, Australia's Matilda's are "disappointed" to miss out on the final but believe to have won over a nation, after an electrifying performance throughout the series.

On Wednesday, England beat the co-hosts 3-1 during the Women's World Cup semi-final to deny them a first World Cup final on home soil, but Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson said it is "just the beginning" for the Matildas.

"I hate to lose, but this is bigger than 90 minutes of football," he said.

The Matildas have enthralled Australia on their way to making it to the last four for the first time, gaining support from people all around the nation and excelling in front of their record-breaking home crowds, the BBC reported.

Wednesday's semi-final was the most-watched event on national television since at least 2001, holding an average audience of over 7 million viewers, while across the country, bars and pop-up viewing sites were maxed out.

Additionally, the intense match between the rivals did not disappoint viewers, delivering moments of both agony and ecstasy, including Sam Kerr's stunning equaliser in the 63rd minute.

"Kerr's goal was insane and showed the world the calibre of Australian footballers. The reaction at the pub last night was electric," Sydney-based fan Rochelle Mallett told the BBC.

"Australians now know the Matildas' names — not just Sam Kerr but Mackenzie Arnold, Caitlin Foord. We are so proud of them all. They have truly united us."

Meanwhile, the raw defeat from the rival was bitter for many others.

"Putting English muffins in my toaster and toasting them over and over till they disintegrate," Australian radio presenter Matt Bevan wrote online.

The Matildas have surpassed their best performance at a World Cup, which was a quarter-final exit on three separate occasions, and will aim to finish third when they take on three-time bronze medallists Sweden on Saturday.

"I feel like, as a team, we have so much belief and so much confidence as a group," added Swede Gustavsson. "No matter what's happened on the outside, no matter who we've come up against, every challenge we've managed to solve. Every game we've managed to compete, and come out on top.

"Right now we're not happy about being in the semi-final, we're disappointed about not being in the final. We want to go one step further — we all have a dream."

Aside from that, Australia experienced record attendance throughout the series, just as England won their first major trophy on home soil with the Euros, and went farther than many may have imagined.

The lead-up to the last-four game was the talk of the town in Australia this week, with the team's accomplishments appearing on both the front and back pages of newspapers across the country as supporters celebrated "Matildas Mania."

Australia may now reap the rewards of victory in a domestic competition, boosting their self-assurance to compete on the international stage and motivating a new generation of athletes.

"I'm happy that people believed we could win this tournament," said Gustavsson.

"We felt that belief, we had this belief for a long time internally. We are maybe not as high ranked, or have as many big players or the same resources, but we have something else very special in this team.

"I don't think it's too early [to think about winning the World Cup], but I also think it's just the beginning of something. We are maximising the resources we have right now. The return of the investment is very good but let's invest more and be genuine contenders."

Sam Kerr, Australia's legendary striker, shared her manager's sentiments by calling the outcome "disappointing" but adding that she will still think back on an inspiring campaign in other ways.

"I have to think of all the things the team have done, and I have done, to be where we are now and to inspire a nation," added Kerr. "I can only speak for the Matildas but we need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots."

Gustavsson added the result was "bigger than 90 minutes of football", as the Matildas managed to attract more fans to women's football over the past four weeks.

"We're very disappointed that we lost, but hopefully we won something else," he said. "We've won the heart and the passion for this game in this country."