For most Aussie football fans, Cortnee Vine’s penalty kick is a moment frozen in time.
A nation holding its collective breath. Then, as cool, calm and composed as ever, Vine steps up and delivers a kick that sends the Matildas to their very first FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final and on home soil, no less.
“I didn’t look at anything. I just knew. You’ve practised it, so just kick the ball,” she told Tara Rushton in an exclusive interview with 10 News.
“Cue the party,” the commentator yelled as Vine’s shot hit the back of the net, writing herself into Australian sporting lore in a moment that would come to define her career.
The pressure of ‘just kicking a ball’ seemed to come easily to Vine. What followed in the weeks and months after, however, was far harder to manage.
“Sometimes I still don’t believe it was me,” Vine said when reflecting not just on the moment, but on what it came to mean for her country.
“At the time, I didn’t realise how much it would impact Australia and myself," she said.
“Everyone was showing me where they were when it happened. All their reactions. I had dads coming up to me, shaking my hand, saying 'Thank you so much for what you’ve done for women’s soccer. My daughter is a huge fan.'
“There were a lot of people thanking me for that moment. It brought a lot of people a lot of joy. It changed my life… in good and bad ways.”
From the outside, Vine’s trajectory after the World Cup looked like a dream run. An Olympic debut. An overseas move.
Internally, it was anything but.
“There were so many highs. I was riding the wave from the World Cup, moved overseas, played in an Olympic Games - and then there was a down. It hit me hard,” she said.
After leaving Sydney FC and joining North Carolina Courage in the United States, Vine reached breaking point.
“It actually hit me on an away trip,” she said. “We were over on the West Coast. Before a game, I had to sit down with the coach and tell them I didn’t think I could play.”
Vine was suffering from severe anxiety, to the point where she couldn’t eat or even get out of bed.
“It was stopping me from doing life things,” she explained. “Being too anxious to go places, or to eat. That was especially hard as an athlete, knowing I needed to eat. That was probably my lowest.”
When asked if she wanted to see the sun rise during that period, Vine responded candidly: “No.”
“It was a tough time,” she said. “The darkest I’ve ever had.”
Vine considered stepping away from football altogether - Not because she didn’t love the game, but because she wasn’t sure she could survive the pressure that came with it.
She knew therapy and medical support were essential, but that path brought its own challenges.
“Anxiety medication can hinder performance,” she said. “Reaction time and speed are the biggest parts of my game - they’re what I’m known for. I really felt those effects during that whole year with Courage.
“I was trying to work out what could help me mentally, without also hindering my performance.”
Vine says that it was her long-time partner and former teammate, Charlotte McLean, who helped her through her darkest days.
“She was my rock,” Vine said. “She held me through the breakdowns. She saw the darkest parts. She saw everything. She went through a lot as well. Seeing someone you love go through that isn’t easy.”
Recently, Vine spoke about a goals list she wrote when she was 15, which is still stuck to the back of her bedroom door at home.
Play in the W-League (now A-League Women). Represent Australia. Go to a World Cup. Play overseas. Go to the Olympics. She’s done it all.
Now, she’s writing a new list. And one of those goals is a place at the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.
“I’m excited for a whole new phase of my life,” she said.
“I feel in a good space again. Very different to how I felt before the World Cup.
“I’m excited if I get to go... But if not, just having a major tournament on home soil is pretty cool.”