When Cortnee Vine stuck her goals on the wall as a youngster, playing at an Olympic Games was front and centre.
She is now in line to achieve that childhood dream after being among the 18 players selected to represent the CommBank Matildas at Paris 2024™.
“The Olympics is my one thing that I’ve always wanted to be a part of, probably more than the World Cup,” the former long jump athlete expressed.
“Back when I was younger, that was my thing. I watched Cathy Freeman. I watched the 2000 Olympics here [in Sydney] and I just thought yeah, that’s something that I want to do. To get told I was doing it – I shed a tear. I was very emotional.”
She admitted she was “very nervous” while she waited for her scheduled meeting time with Head Coach Tony Gustavsson – later than most of her teammates, which she worried could “go one way or the other.” The emotions when she received the good news almost became too much.
“I slept like a baby that night,” she recalled with a smile.
At the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, Vine rose to instant fame after the converted the match-winning spot kick in the team’s dramatic quarter-final victory over France. However, the 11 months since have not always been straightforward.
In October, she suffered a hamstring injury against the Philippines. She missed the subsequent international window, in December against Canada, and had a severely disrupted start to her season with Sydney FC at club level.
In February, she made the decision to withdraw from the two-legged Olympic Qualifier against Uzbekistan due to personal reasons.
“At the time, obviously, it was a massive call,” she explained, “and I knew what I was jeopardising [Olympic selection] when I took that time off.”
“But for me, I really needed to put myself first at that point. I went through a lot of emotions during that period… that was going to be a risk stepping away from Matildas a little while. [But] I had to do it.”
“Sometimes you have to put yourself first as a person over the football and I do think that helps on the field stuff. So that’s what I had to do. I think it has benefited [on the pitch]. I’ve come back, I know what I want, I know what I need to do – I want to be the best player I can be, and that’s because of that time.”
On Monday night, against China PR, Vine was played as a centre-forward instead of her traditional role as a winger. She said that she’s “excited” to play more of the ‘number nine’ role.
“I really like nine,” she expressed. “I used to play there a little while ago. It’s a bit different in the national team – a different setup as the nine – but I do enjoy it. I’m happy to play anywhere, especially for this team.”
As part of that role on Monday, she threaded through a wonderful assist to Hayley Raso that led to the team’s second goal.
“I feel like my inner 10 [attacking midfielder] came out,” she laughed, “I used to play 10 when I was younger.”
“Just saw a great run, you know, [Hayley] Raso’s very quick. It’s a ball that I would have liked if I was on the wing, so yeah – just played it! It turned out really well.”