‘I told you so’: The sight that brought this former Matildas captain to tears

When Melissa Barbieri captained the Matildas to the Asian Cup title in 2010, there was no press conference to preview the pre-final entertainment. In fact, there was no entertainment at all – not even a mascot.

On Thursday in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, there was all that and more. And it moved Barbieri to tears.

“There’s more media here than when I won,” she said on Thursday. “It’s surreal, to be honest. I feel like when we won it in 2010, even when we had it on home soil in 2006 – it’s a surreal moment to be back in front of all you for a start, more media here then when I walked into the airport with the trophy ... I know for a fact that every Matilda that has put on the jersey is watching with such huge pride and a mentality of, ‘I told you so’.”

Though Barbieri’s Matildas played with far less fanfare at a time when careers were funded by selling personal memorabilia online, she has one thing most current Matildas don’t – a major tournament victory.

“I have really fond memories of wondering how to lift a trophy,” she said. “Because I was thinking, ‘I don’t actually know how to do it’. I just obviously raised it above my head, but then I didn’t realise that I had to let it go, and I was meant to pass it around to my teammates. So that’s the main thing I remember – thinking, ‘OK, I have to let go of it at some point’.

Sam Kerr is the only member of the 2010 Asian Cup-winning side still playing for the national team, and Barbieri, who will present the trophy to the winner of Saturday’s final, hopes to be able to pass the silverware to her former teammate.

“To even be asked has been a huge honour for me,” she said. “There’s countless times where you think you’ve been forgotten, and I want to be forgotten because I want the next generation to have all the spotlight, but it’s nice to know that I was remembered in a moment... Hopefully, I can give it to Sam.”

The 2010 Asian Cup remains Matildas’ only major tournament victory, and it came after a cruel finals loss during the 2006 edition, the last time a Women’s Asian Cup was held on home soil.

“I really felt like it was rent-a-crowd at that moment,” Barbieri said. “I felt like we had a lot of people there supporting the game. You know, ‘There’s something happening in our backyard, let’s go watch’. But this time, it’s almost like, ‘I need to go watch. I need to support these women’.

“I know these women, I know what they have to go through, I know who they play for. And I feel like that’s the difference; I feel we as Matildas haven’t really changed over the years, I feel like everybody’s access to us has grown.”

Few are better qualified to offer the current Matildas side tips leading in to the final. Barbieri’s advice is simple.

“I really feel like we play our best when nobody expects much of us,” she said. “I feel like whenever you come up against Japan, you have to be at your best, both physically and mentally.

“But, I think the edge that we’re going to have this time around is that we’re going to have a home crowd. [We] love being underdogs.”