World Cup semi-final fever

A young fan at the Wyndham Park live site. (supplied).

Like the rest of the country, the western suburbs came to a stand-still on Wednesday night for Australia’s FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final against England.

A crowd of more than 1500 people – most of them clad in green and gold and barracking for the Matildas – packed a live site set up at Werribee’s Wyndham Park, while elsewhere, pubs, clubs and loungerooms were filled to capacity too. Many of them emptied before the finish though, as two late goals sent England to Sunday’s final; the euphoria of Sam Kerr’s second half screamer proving short lived. The legacy of this tournament certainly won’t.