The Matildas have ended their Women's World Cup on a high note after Aussie icon Nikki Webster joined them on stage at a tribute event for a lively rendition of Strawberry Kisses.
Create a free account to read this article
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After being presented a key to the city in Brisbane, the players were stunned when the songstress walked out in front of thousands of fans.
They sang and danced along with captain Sam Kerr taking over the microphone at one point to belt out the chorus.
Webster's 2001 hit became an unofficial anthem for the Matildas during the tournament, with goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold explaining how it all started.
"Strawberry Kisses by Nikki Webster has been a team favourite the last couple weeks," she said.
"I think it's Steph Catley's favourite song and now we've all jumped on the wagon. We put it on the plane and everything, it's out there, everyone knows."
Catley, who stood in as captain in Kerr's absence and kicked the Matildas' first goal of the tournament, described her love of the "banger of a song".
"I had it as a CD in my Walkman and it was a single and I'd listen to it over and over again," she said.
"So it reminds me of my childhood. It's happiness in a song and it just gets me going on my day... and in the changeroom apparently now."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Calls for investment in the future
The team's history-making Women's World Cup journey will be immortalised with a statue at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, funded by the Queensland Government.
The NSW Government has also announced a permanent mural featuring the Matildas' greatest moments from the tournament to be installed on Stadium Australia's external facade.
But what the players and coach Tony Gustavsson have called for is funding and investment in the game.
"I can only speak for the Matildas. We need funding in our development. We need funding in our grassroots. We need funding. We need funding everywhere," Kerr said after the semi-final loss.
"The comparison to other sports isn't really good enough. And hopefully this tournament changes that because that's the legacy you leave - not what you do on the pitch. The legacy is what you do off the pitch."
In response, the Federal Government is launching a $200 million Play Our Way program to improve sporting facilities and equipment specifically for women and girls.
"The Matildas have given us a moment of national inspiration, this is about seizing that opportunity for the next generation, investing in community sporting facilities for women and girls around Australia," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Football Australia is expecting a 20 per cent surge in grassroots participation, particularly from women and girls, on the back of the Women's World Cup.
"This significant funding arrives at a poignant moment for football in Australia," Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said.
"As the most popular team-based participation sport in the nation, football has seen a meteoric rise in female participation."
But he said conversations with the Federal Government were continuing around high-performance funding for the national football programs.
"FIFA World Cups, our Subway Socceroos and CommBank Matildas inspire all Australians more than any other major sporting event - it is clear they need to finally be recognised in Australia's high-performance sport funding framework," Mr Johnson said.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also announced a $37 million boost for female sport including an extra $2 million for the Queensland Women's Football Legacy Fund.
Keys to the city and a surprise from Nikki Webster, the singer behind the Matildas' unofficial team song, this was the start of Australia's 'thank you' to the national team who inspired a nation.
