Sam Kerr has made an impassioned plea for women's football in Australia to reap the funding she believes it both needs and deserves.
The Matildas captain chose the eve of their international against Scotland in London to outline eloquently - and emotionally - her hopes for the legacy the upcoming home World Cup will leave for the game in Australia, including an appeal to those in control of sport's purse strings .
She wants soccer to be able to savour its own "Cathy Freeman moment", with the 2023 Matildas being "remembered for ever" in the same way the great 400m champion captured a nation in Sydney 2000.
"The legacy left there from that one special moment at the 2000 Olympics was everlasting for all of us," said Kerr at the team's base outside London on Thursday.
"Ask half the girls in the team, their idol growing up was Cathy Freeman. That's the legacy we want to leave - that we inspire the nation, we move the nation to believe in women's football, believe in the Matildas.
"We already have the highest participation rate in the country so it's about getting the people higher up to believe in the sport.
"You see the funding that AFL, rugby, all those sports get before women's football, I think it's about getting the money into football to allow girls to play, to allow girls to have the opportunities to get to where they want to be.
"With the Socceroos' success at the World Cup, we saw the funding highlighted. So we have the participation, we have the love for the game, but the lasting legacy will hopefully be that we get the funding that the sport deserves."
Though there's still three months before the Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, Kerr admitted the excitement is consuming her.
"It's going to be the biggest honour in the world to represent your country at a home World Cup in front of your family and friends," she said.
"We hope this team is remembered for ever and we represent Australia in the best way possible and show that Australia can be a real footballing country.
"So I'm excited. It's going to be the best World Cup ever and I get goosebumps every time I think about that first game (against Ireland at Stadium Australia in Sydney on July 20)."
Asked if she felt Australia could lift the trophy, Kerr refused to get ahead of herself.
"Ireland are a bloody good team, haven't conceded a goal in nine games. It's about taking care of one game at a time; you can lose games when you look too far ahead and that was one of the learning curves from the last World Cup."
But would the Australian public get behind the team the way England fans did behind the Lionesses in the Euros? "One hundred per cent," Kerr insisted.
"You saw that at the World Cup cricket in Australia and they went on to win it. Australians love getting behind Aussies ... and I think the Matildas are one of the Aussie favourites fan-wise."
First of all, though, her team have to negotiate two important warm-up matches over the Easter period against Scotland and England.
"Right now, we're not where we want to be in two months. It is a practice match at the end of the day," shrugged Kerr about the Scottish match.
"But every time we step on the pitch as Matildas, we're trying to get to where we want to be - so this will be full guns blazing."
