By Glenda Kwek
She sprints down the side of the field, evading two players chasing after her. Running towards the centre of the pitch, she sidesteps another defender and takes a hard swing at the ball. As it sails into the top right-hand corner of the goal, she yells “I love football!”
But this “football” isn’t rugby, union or AFL. It’s the other footy code — soccer, or as purists would call it, football — the world game.
Our awareness of football has been dominated by the men’s game — we’ve all heard the names Ronaldo, Maradona, Pele and, of course, Beckham. But women have been playing this sport for as long as men, and the popularity of women’s football is growing.
Since the success of the Socceroos at the 2006 World Cup, and of the Matildas at the 2007 World Cup, more men and women are playing the game in friendlies, office competitions and amateur leagues around Australia. And the film Bend It Like Beckham, starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, didn’t hurt either!
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