The players thought they were attending a tactics meeting in Melbourne last week. Instead, they received a shock visit from one of Australia’s most iconic sporting heroes.
Last Wednesday, two days before the Matildas’ friendly against France, Tony Gustavsson scheduled a 6.30pm meeting. The players assumed it was another tactics session. Except that when they arrived and sat down, their coach told them they were doing something a little different this time.
The 50-year-old Freeman, who is media-shy and rarely speaks in public, sat down with the players informally, answering questions and imparting wisdom about self-belief and keeping it together under the scarcely imaginable weight of home expectation. “We just sat around. We asked her questions informally, and she spoke back to us just like she was a friend. We got a lot of good insight from that and came away feeling a little bit of a weight off our shoulders, and just completely inspired.”Sam Kerr in particular
“My takeaway from what she told us was that we know who we are, we know why we do this,” Luik said. “And while we want to perform and give results for others outside the circle, at the end of the day you believe in yourself and you do it for yourself.“All athletes do what they do because they love the sport. She told us to not lose track of that, and that gives you the confidence to go out there and do your job.
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