Mackenzie Arnold speaks out after Nike backflip over Matildas jersey furore

Matildas goalkeeping hero Mackenzie Arnold has opened up on the Nike jersey furore that left football fans seething during this year's Women's World Cup. Nike faced a wave of public backlash when fans realised they couldn't buy any of the female goalkeeper jerseys during the tournament because the sporting retail giant didn't produce them.

Arnold and England goalkeeper Mary Earps are both fan favourites for their respective sides and the public outcry was widespread when supporters realised they had no way of purchasing replica jerseys sporting the names and number of the star shot-stoppers. Nike originally bowed to public demand by announcing that goalkeeper jerseys would be made available to purchase for England, USA, France and Netherlands but was forced to also include Australia after copping further blowback from Matildas fans.

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Arnold, who is working with Amazon Australia as the online retail giant's Flex delivery partner while she's back in Australia, said she was delighted her fellow goalkeepers were getting the recognition they deserved. Nike's decision to snub the women's goalkeepers was described by some fans at the time as "disrespectful".

The Matildas ace says she's delighted the situation has now been resolved. "Yeah, it's really special. I think, for such a long time, goalkeepers have sort of taken the backseat," Arnold said. "Now that everyone wants a goalkeeper jersey, I think not even just in Australia... I think a lot of women goalkeepers around the world are sort of facing that kind of story now.

"It's really cool to see and hopefully they'll be available heading into the Olympics. So I'm excited for that." Nike's backflip means if Arnold's Matildas side qualifies for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, her Aussie goalkeeping jersey as well as Lydia Williams and Teagan Micah's kits will become available to purchase for fans.

Mackenzie Arnold a Matildas fan favourite

Arnold shot to national stardom in the Matildas' penalty shootout win against France in the quarter-finals, and demand for her jersey around the nation skyrocketed. But fans were left up in arms when they realised the keeper jersey wasn't available to purchase. The shot-stopper admits she never expected the public demand for her jersey.

"To be honest... everyone's always after Sam Kerr's jersey or whatever it is," Arnold added. "So it was really cool to see that some people wanted the goalkeeper's shirt for a change. But yeah, I'm really grateful for it and hopefully, they can be wearing that at the Olympic Games."

The Matildas will qualify for the Paris Games if they emerge successful from their home-and-away qualifiers against Uzbekistan in February. A sell-out crowd of more than 53,000 - the 12th successive full house for a Matildas home game - will pack Melbourne's Marvel Stadium for the crunch second leg clash against Uzbekistan on February 28.

Arnold was at pains to point out that the Aussies still have to get the job done against Uzbekistan to qualify, but said her side was desperate to go one better than it's fourth-placed finish at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as the recent World Cup. "Firstly, we have to qualify so I don't want to speak too far ahead, but yeah, definitely heading into the Olympics, we're trying to look for heading more into a top three kind of role instead of getting fourth every single tournament we went to so yeah, we're really excited and hopefully we can get a medal if we qualify."

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