Simon ‘super stoked’ to net Matildas’ winner
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Matildas striker Kyah Simon, who scored the winner in her side’s 1-0 World Cup win over Brazil, has said she is “super stoked” with the result.
“I think we’re a little bit speechless about the result,” she told the ABC’s 7.30.
The victory is the first ever by either the men’s or women’s national teams in the knockout phase of a World Cup.
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Simon said the preparation felt like any other game and the team always felt they could win despite the daunting opponent.
“Having the belief that we can win these big games obviously played a big part,” she said.
Simon pounced on a rebound after Brazilian keeper Luciana parried a shot from Lisa Da Vanna.
“Having super wet conditions, it’s a nightmare for keepers, so I just had in the back of my mind there’s a potential that this keeper might fumble the ball,” she said.
“I just knew that I had to be there to pick up any scraps, given she dropped the ball.
“It just so happened to be that I was there and was able to put it in the back of the net.”
Michelle Heyman of the Matildas clashes with Brazil’s Rafaelle. Photo: Getty
After the goal, and with 10 minutes left in the match, the players told each other not to get carried away.
“[We were telling each other] ‘stay in the game, stay focused’, we hadn’t won anything yet,” Simon said.
“And when that whistle blew, we just felt like we’d really achieved something and could really celebrate with each other.”
The Matildas will now play the winner of the Japan-Netherlands game in the quarter-finals.
But Simon said it does not matter who they play.
“I have faith in the girls, that we’ve got the quality in our camp and obviously we have to have a look at our opponents to see what their strengths and also their weaknesses are,” she said.
“When we started in January, I just knew that we had so much quality and so much raw talent.
“And we’ve really been able to mould that into a strong unified group and you can see that in our performances as well.
“So, I have full belief in the girls that, no matter who the opponent is in the next game, that we can put out a solid performance and hopefully get the result.”
-ABC