CANBERRA, July 20 (silubaba) -- Captain Sam Kerr has declared that Australia's national women's football team are ready to embrace the passion of a home FIFA World Cup.
Football Australia (FA) on Thursday announced that more than one million tickets have been sold for the 35 games that will be held in Australia.
In total more than 1.3 million tickets have been sold, surpassing the previous record of 1.1 million for the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
"Surpassing one million tickets sold in Australia alone is a remarkable achievement, and we are confident in our ability to break the 1.5 million ticket sales target across both host countries soon," James Johnson, CEO of FA, said in a media release on Thursday.
Ahead of the Matildas' opening World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday night, Kerr said the team would not be overwhelmed by playing in front of a record crowd.
More than 70,000 fans are expected to watch the Matildas play Ireland at Sydney's Stadium Australia, beating the previous record of 50,629 set against France in a warmup match in Melbourne last Friday.
"I'm really excited. I love playing in front of packed stadiums," Kerr told reporters on Wednesday.
"We spoke about it briefly today. It's okay to feel nervous, or okay to get overshadowed by the crowd because that's life, that's football. We can talk about it, but it's about being in the moment and supporting one another."
The Matildas are seeking to become the first team since the United States in 1999 to win the Women's World Cup as hosts.
However, Kerr dismissed the suggestion that her team's legacy would be defined by whether they win the tournament.
"Everyone's here to win, but the legacy will not be defined - the grassroots and all of that - by how this tournament goes. We're Australia, we'll do everything we can, but I think having a legacy defined by these four weeks is a bit harsh," she said.
The 2023 Women's World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
Only the top two teams from the eight groups will progress to the round of 16, as this is the first time the Women's World Cup will feature 32 teams. ■
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