Australia's adventure ride ended with what seems like much optimism for the future. And as their play showed Saturday, Sam Kerr and the Matildas put everything into this tournament.
with little chance of a recovery, she'd had spent the first half of the tournament with a calf injury and had now just been clattered by a rough challenge from behind and was wincing in pain.Well, to expect that is to assume a few things that were proved to be false Saturday. For a start, the bronze medal playoff doesn't always feel like an afterthought and it certainly didn't here, contested as it was with all the ferocity of a semifinal.
Sweden deserved its win, to capture third-spot in the world's biggest tournament for the third time in the last four renditions, a mighty effort for a country of 10 million in a time when the game is rapidly globalizing, broadening and improving. But it was hard not to feel some sadness for the Aussies, whose campaign included no shortage of adversity but who pushed it all aside with a healthy helping of timely magic.
, this game did the job nicely. It showed the passion of the co-hosts, and Australia the nation has done just as well as Australia the team in bringing fun and color and a thoroughly appropriate welcome to women's soccer's ultimate showpiece.
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