If any Australian didn’t know the name Mackenzie Arnold before Saturday, they certainly do now.
The Matildas goalkeeper is the toast of a nation after her heroics to lift the FIFA Women’s World Cup hosts to the final four of the tournament for the first time in history.
Her road to the big stage is equal parts incredible and uplifting.
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With the world in the grips of the pandemic in 2020, Arnold noticed she was struggling to hear people talk through masks.
She’d already had a reputation among teammates as being someone who said ‘what?’ a lot – but was there a medical reason behind it?
“My hearing’s not great, I’m not going to lie,” Arnold said in a Matildas video last October. “It’s probably about 70 per cent”.
He brother had worn hearing aids since he was a toddler, so she got her ears tested. After a series of tests, it was confirmed Arnold did indeed have hearing loss.
In April, she was fitted with hearing aids.
“Those closest to me know how long I’ve avoided this day, but here’s a little glimpse of a life-changing day for me,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for this little adjustment.”
She now wears them constantly off the field, but doesn’t wear them during the game. She’s worried her boosted hearing would be a distraction.
After all, she knows no different.
But her penalty shootout heroics against France in Saturday’s quarter-final come as no surprise to those that know her.
Arnold made three saves as the Matildas won a record 20-penalty shootout.
“She loves penalties. She absolutely loves saving them and I would have 100 per cent put her in even if she wasn’t on the field to take the penalties – like what France did with their goalkeeper,” injured Matildas teammate Chloe Logarzo said on Nine’s Today, referencing France substituting ‘keepers late in extra time before the shootout.
“I never had a doubt with her. It’s amazing to see all her hard work she’s been doing off the field is paying off.”
Logarzo was at Brisbane Stadium working on Optus Sport’s coverage of the World Cup. She said she was thrilled to see ‘Macca’ get the plaudits she deserves.
“She’s been in the national team for a long time, so for her to finally get her opportunity to play, she’s grasped it with both hands,” she said.
Arnold’s road to the World Cup started when she was just 17 when she moved to Perth to join the Glory for the 2011 W-League season from her native Gold Coast.
Then-Glory coach, now Football West chief executive Jamie Harnwell already knew Mackenzie Arnold was a talent.
He said she’s the typical first there, last to leave kind of athlete.
“She’s always had confidence and great belief in her ability,” he told Today on Monday morning.
“She came to Perth from Queensland as a 17-year-old … leaving home for the first time and we weren’t the greatest team in 2011.
“There were a lot of challenges both on and off the field (but) she kept coming back and turning up and wanted to train and be the best she could be.
“And that’s held her in good stead throughout her career.”
An example of her resilience came late in that first season with the Glory. Arnold fractured a cheekbone in their last game of the regular season.
But rather than miss the semi-finals, she donned a mask.
She spent just the one season in Perth that first time around, before stints in Canberra, western Sydney and another in Perth.
She played four seasons for the Brisbane Roar between 2016-2020.
During her stint with the Roar, Arnold spent the 2018 off-season playing in the Norwegian Toppserien for Arna-Bjørnar.
But her real breakout – at least in the international club scene – was when she joined West Ham for the 2020-2021 Women’s Super League in England.
Arnold made her Matildas debut in 2012, but only because Melissa Barbieri and Lydia Williams were unavailable.
At that time, veteran and former skipper Barbieri’s career was winding down, and Williams’ was ramping up.
Arnold got few games. She was named in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup squads and 2016 and 2020 Olympic teams, but rarely featured as the third ‘keeper.
She’s only got 39 caps in 11 years. It’s not until recently that she’s become the Matildas’ No.1 shot-stopper.
Arnold has started each of the Matildas’ five 2023 World Cup matches to date, keeping four clean sheets.
On Saturday, she had the chance to be an even bigger hero, when she stepped up to take the 10th penalty of the shootout.
She had moments before got a fingertip to Ève Périsset’s shot that deflected off the post. Had Arnold scored, she would have put the Tillies through almost single-handedly.
But she hit the post.
The emotions were obvious, but she had no time to dwell. She had to regroup and get back on the line to face the next French shot from Grace Geyoro. She got a hand on that one too.
After the victory, coach Tony Gustavsson lauded her composure.
“She was unbelievable for the whole whole game plus penalty shootout,” Gustavsson said on Optus Sport.
“The composure, the bravery, but then also to come back from that miss when she (could have) been the hero of the country.
“To stay in the game and then come back and be the game changer, I’m so happy for her.”
The Matildas’ semi-final against England is in Sydney on Wednesday night.