Australian football history could be made this month.
No Australian team has ever won a round ball World Cup, but the ParaMatildas are in Spain for the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) Women’s World Cup as the world’s highest ranked side.
Back at the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2022, the team was a dominant force.
Massive group stage wins, including a 11-0 drubbing of hosts Spain, set the stage for an epic tournament decider against the USA.
Despite a valiant performance, the Australians were undone in extra-time.
Now, on the eve of this year’s tournament, ParaMatildas top goal scorer Georgia Beikoff said her team is determined to avenge that heartbreak.
The ParaMatildas defeated Japan at the 2023 IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championships. (Con Chronis, Getty Images)
“We were so close two years ago,” Beikoff said.
“I think the expectations are high for us, this time around. We are really keen to win the whole thing.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s men’s side, the Pararoos, have already begun their World Cup campaign.
They lost their first game to the USA but remain bullish on a best ever tournament finish.
Generation next
The ParaMatildas and Pararoos are Australia’s national football teams for athletes with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and symptoms of stroke.
They play amended versions of the mainstream game, with smaller fields and goals, shorter halves, and without offsides.
The men play with seven players per side and the women with five.
ParaMatildas head coach Kelly Stirton said that much of her team’s tactical set-up comes from the world of futsal (indoor football).
Kelly Stirton has been ParaMatildas coach since before the 2022 World Cup. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
She oversaw the team’s silver medal at the 2022 World Cup and said that her side has seen massive development since then, largely thanks to the growth of women’s football and Para sport.
“The Matildas definitely had an effect on all aspects of the sport, not just the able bodied,” Stirton said.
“It really showed that anyone can play the sport.
“The Matildas made such an impact on the nation — why can’t these girls do the same thing?”
A rigorous selection process resulted in a ten-person squad for this year’s tournament, which includes several young stars.
Among them is 16-year-old Annmarie de Uriarte.
She made her ParaMatildas debut last year after being named the female young player of the tournament at the 2022 National Para Football Championships.
Sixteen-year-old Annmarie de Uriarte is a rising star. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
She’s ready for international competition.
“I think everyone feels a little nervous,” de Uriarte said.
“I’d maybe get some nerves just being the youngest one out there, maybe not being as experienced, but nerves are natural.
“The girls are all supportive and it’s all chill when I get on the field, and I can switch on — I love playing.”
Fifteen-year-old Trinity McPhie is another one for the future. She is yet to make her international debut but has already impressed many in the ParaMatildas set-up.
The Pararoos, also, have assembled a squad brimming with youthful exuberance.
Giacomo Izzo and William McGrath both made their international debuts in the loss to the US, while it is a first World Cup for four other members of the team.
A possible Paralympic re-instatement
With both sides stacked full of promising stars, there is a Paralympic hope on the horizon.
The men’s version of the sport was featured at the Games from 1984 to 2016 but removed before Tokyo 2020.
A bid for it to be included at Paris 2024 was rejected by the International Paralympic Committee due to a lack of development of the women’s game.
But both Beikoff and Stirton say they are “pushing hard” for a Paralympic re-instatement.
Georgia Beikoff is the ParaMatildas top scorer and has won a Paralympic bronze medal in javelin. (Football Australia: Tiffany Williams)
“I’d really love to see CP football in the Paralympic Games,” Beikoff said.
“I think Brisbane 2032 would be pretty awesome to play on home soil.”
Thirty-year-old Beikoff already has Paralympic experience.
She represented Australia at London 2012, where she won a javelin bronze medal.
In the years since, she has both acquired a teaching degree as well as become the ParaMatildas talisman and highest ever goal scorer.
“I grew up in a family where the world ‘can’t’ didn’t exist,” Beikoff said.
A captain on international debut
Carly Salmon is a newcomer to the team, but like Beikoff, is not short of international experience.
She represented Australia as a sprinter before becoming a ParaMatilda after the 2022 World Cup.
Although she still describes herself as “new to football”, it didn’t take her long to feel at home with the squad.
Carly Salmon plays both as a goalkeeper and a midfielder for the ParaMatildas. (Tiffany Williams, Football Australia)
In fact, she captained the team on her international debut last year.
The primary school teacher said her experience corralling classrooms was ideal preparation for a leadership role on the football field.
“It teaches you patience,” Salmon said.
“And on the field, you have to be quite patient. We all have different strengths or different limitations — it takes quite a while to get to know each other.
“But I also think the ability to be a bit childish and a bit cheeky and a bit silly is actually really helpful in an elite environment like this, where there can be a lot of pressure and can be quite stressful.”
Competition commences
Speaking after his side’s 5-0 loss to the USA, Pararoos coach Kai Lamment said he was confident his team would improve as the tournament progresses.
“It’s a tough ask against the USA first up, but I reckon we’re going to get into the tournament, and we’ll see – parts of the performance were good,” Lammert said.
Next up for the Pararoos is 14th ranked Thailand before they conclude their group stage with a clash against world number six the Netherlands.
The Australians are currently ranked number ten in the world and have placed 11th in their other two IFCPF World Cup appearances.
Giacomo Izzo made his Pararoos debut in the 5-0 loss to the USA. (Football Australia: Mark Avellino)
Pararoos veteran Ben Roche, who came out of retirement for the tournament, said his team is confident of a best ever finish in Spain.
“Looking at the group, I think a top-eight finish for us is a must,” Roche said.
“And taking it further from there would be even better.”
The ParaMatildas begin their women’s campaign on Friday morning Australian time with a heavyweight match-up against world number two Japan.
Then it is Ireland, Denmark and familiar foe the USA that stand between them and another finals berth.
Salmon is confident her team will be up for the challenge.
“My expectation is that the girls will come in absolutely firing,” Salmon said.
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