Heather Garriock, playing at her second World Cup, remembered who scored the winner.

"Friggin' Cristiane scored with her right foot. I knew she didn't have a right foot and it was a fluke," she laughed.

That would be the same Cristiane who scored a hat-trick against Jamaica on Sunday to help Brazil to a 3-0 win at this World Cup.

The goal Cristiane scored to knock Australia out of the 2007 World Cup was her 33rd international strike.

The free kick to crown her treble in Grenoble - yes, with her left foot - was the 34-year-old's 93rd for Brazil.

"That was one of the hardest games I've ever played in. They were so physical," Garriock said. "That era of football was Brazil at their best.

"All their players were firing ... Formiga, Cristiane were at their peak. But we thought we had the team to be able to make it out of the quarter finals.

"We weren't just happy that we competed with Brazil. We were disappointed that we didn't get the result because we knew in extra time, our mentality could have taken us through."

Soon after the tournament, Garriock and Cristiane found each other rooming together during a stint at Chicago Red Stars.

There's plenty of overlap between the current-day teams, given how often they play together, and through the USA-based National Women's Soccer League.

Alanna Kennedy and Emily van Egmond are at Orlando Pride with Marta, while Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter and Hayley Raso play with Andressinha at Portland Thorns.

The two nations first met in 1988 at the pilot World Cup in China, when Janine Riddington scored the only goal of the game to give Australia an unlikely win.

Since then, there have been 19 meetings, with Australia winning nine and Brazil eight.

Garriock said she took pride in helping the Matildas carve out a rich rivalry with an established football powerhouse.

She added: "They highly respect Australia. They've respected us since back then."