The Matildas may have crashed out of France 2019 prematurely, but there are youngsters who are preparing a frontal assault for selection for the country's favourite national team.
KYRA COONEY-CROSS
After scoring 15 goals for NTC in Victorian NPL Women in Melbourne in 2017 and goals at the AFC U16 Championships, nothing but the W-League beckoned for Kyra Cooney-Cross.
You wouldn't have thought the pacey attacker had signed her first professional contract in the 2017/18 W-League season.
She played 12 matches in Victory's side, scoring her first career goal against Newcastle Jets and adding another against Adelaide United.
15-year-old Kyra Cooney-Cross with her first W-League goal!
— SBS - The World Game (@TheWorldGame) December 29, 2017
But was it actually an own goal? #MVCvNEW pic.twitter.com/EmHeBieqo2
Cooney-Cross was rewarded with a nomination for NAB Young Footballer of the Year.
International triumph loomed for the then 16-year old, and some stellar performances at the AFF Women's Championships in 2018, including three goals, rocketed her to the radar of the Matildas selectors.
Ante Milicic picked Cooney-Cross as a member of his train-on squad ahead of the World Cup and got her first big strut at the big dance.
At just 17 watching from the bench and flying back home following the pre-tournament camp, her time in the spotlight in the Matildas isn't far away.
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