‘Special’: Matilda reflects on wonder goal

Scoring wonder goals at training is nothing unusual for Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross, so when she finally got the chance to unleash from a considerable distance in match, she wasn’t going to pass it up.

Cooney-Cross celebrated her 50th Matildas appearance in style on Tuesday morning (AEDT), finding the back of the net with a spectacular 30-plus metre effort that caught goalkeeper Stina Johannes off her line in Australia’s 2-1 win over Germany in Duisburg.

“Some of the girls made comments before that I do that in training all the time, but I’ve never had the chance to do it in a game because I’m a lot deeper playing as a (defensive midfielder),” she said.

“(Against Germany) I got the opportunity to play higher up (the pitch) … and I guess I got the opportunity (to shoot) and I took it.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I scored.”

Cooney-Cross told the Matildas website that scoring her first goal for Australia was also a “big relief”.

“It’s a surreal moment. I’m feeling very proud and grateful,” the 22-year-old Queenslander said.

“It’s finally happened, (and) especially in a big game, it makes it even more special.

“I’m so grateful to get 50 caps. I definitely wouldn’t be here without a few of the girls sticking by my side and helping me get there.”

The Arsenal midfielder is relishing the prospect of returning home for matches in Queensland and Victoria against Brazil (November 28 and December 1) and Chinese Taipei (December 4 and 7).

“I miss it so much. The first thing you do when you go and sing the national anthem, you look for your family and friends,” she said.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done that, so I miss it, and we all can’t wait to be back home.”