By TAS MAVRIDIS 

Australian women’s national soccer team the Matildas captured imaginations across the nation in their unbeaten charge through the recent Rio Olympics qualifying series.

The team's unbeaten surge, particularly in accounting for highly ranked Japan and DPR Korea, led to big rise in their international ranking, with FIFA yesterday announcing the Australians are now No.5 in the world. 

It was the first time the squad’s exploits have been showcased on free-to-air commercial TV. 

Australian audiences responded strongly, with more than one million combined viewers tuning in to watch the five matches on 7Mate, with the Matildas’ first outing against Japan driving a 34 per cent viewership increase on the station's usual Monday night programming.

The Matildas’ increasing popularity, along with the burgeoning domestic W-League competition being broadcast on free-to-air and pay-TV, has proven integral to improving exposure of the women’s game to the wider community.

Yianni Galanis, coach of State League One and former coach of Women’s Premier League side Caulfield Cobras, said the Matildas’ rise was complemented by more attention devoted to women’s soccer.

“The success of the women’s game globally has been made possible through FIFA spending a great deal more money to make these events more mainstream,” Galanis said.

The Matildas have improved dramatically since their introduction in 1978 as members of the Oceanic Football Confederation. They showed immediate potential as back-to-back finalists in the Oceania Cup in the 1980s. The team has since qualified for six consecutive World Cups since 1995 and made the quarter-finals in their last three attempts.

The Matildas had a major triumph at the 2010 Asian Cup, where they defeated fifth-ranked North Korea and Japan  in consecutive knockout stage matches to hoist the silverware for the first time.

Momentum was further propelled by a shocking knockout win over soccer behemoth Brazil in the 2015 World Cup in Canada, before eventually succumbing to eventual finalists Japan.

In 2016, the squad went undefeated through five qualification matches to secure their place in the women’s football tournament in Rio, rising first into the top 10, and then to No.5.

Off the back of the Matildas’ current success, the Australian and Victorian football federations  (FFA and FFV) have invested significant resources in improving women’s development at the domestic level.

FFV has introduced summer competitions for girls to provide specific pathways, while the Victorian Government is building new facilities for the Peninsula female soccer teams, including dedicated change rooms and extra grounds for training.

The Victorian Government will spend $10 million in total, the biggest investment in women’s grassroots sport in the country. This is key to developing a greater array of talent for future Matilda teams.

As a coach, Galanis saw many girls leave the game, disheartened that they had to share facilities with their male counterparts.

The FFA aims to retain female talent by introducing women’s-only courses, facilities, coaches and referees as part of Women in Football week, which occurred in early March this year. Galanis said this was great for the overall development of the sport.

Galanis said that the Matildas’ achievements and consequent broadcasting of their success have encouraged significant uptake of soccer among girls at a grassroots level.

“Young girls have role models that they can aspire to follow,” he said.

Figures released in a 2015 Roy Morgan poll indicate soccer (39 per cent) has overtaken netball (37 per cent) as the most popular sport among girls, with more than 1.44 million 6-13-year-olds participating in the sport.

Despite the progress, a recent pay dispute highlighted the issues still facing women’s soccer.

Strikes just after the World Cup lead the Matildas to cancel a USA tour. Players were angry at the minimal wage offered by the FFA despite the level of professionalism expected.

Women’s soccer in Australia has undergone significant professionalisation, but Galanis said local clubs need more attention.

“There is a great deal of work that needs to be done in terms of professionalism. With the WNPL still a work in progress and the benefits still five years away, the importance of coaches is critical for the long-term development of up and coming players,” Galanis said.

“The introduction of the FFA women’s football strategic plan 2014-16 has been seen as a small step to rectify the lack of funding suffered for many years and improve professionalism.”

With the Olympics fast approaching, the whole country will be watching the Matildas. The impact a medal could have on the rapid progress of women’s soccer in Australia is exciting for all lovers of the world game.