I love football. I unashamedly adore the game. The skills, the speed and excitement, the personalities, the drama, the fans, the rivalries and the classic matches. All that and more is what makes the game great. But it is easy to forget that the men's game didn't start where it is now. 

It has taken time. Decades really but it is mostly (you know the bad bits) a product that any football fan is proud to claim.  Finally, in the last two years or so, fans of women's football have the same feeling about the women's game. 

International women's football is a relatively new concept.  From the first invitational tournament in 1988 to the first World Cup in 1991, the women's game, like the men's game in the early days, has struggled to find its equilibrium. 

It began in fits and starts and to be truthful, for long period of time the quality was hit and miss.  However in the last five years or so, the game has really found its feet and the players have claimed the game. 

It finally has all the elements listed above. The phenomenal skills of Aya Miyama, Louisa Necib and Marta, the electric pace and excitement of Alex Morgan, Elodie Thomis and Lisa De Vanna, first class goalscorers like Abby Wambach, Christine Sinclair and Lotta Schelin, the personalities in Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe, the fanatical followers of the US Women's National Team, the USA/Japan, USA/ Brazil and USA/Canada rivalries (sense a pattern here?) and of course high quality classic matches (find the highlights of the USA v Canada semi-final from this week. You'll thank me). 

Finally, the product on the park is making even the sceptics sit up and take notice. In a match that had everything (except diving!), over 80,000 spectators filled Wembley Stadium to see the United States defeat Japan to claim their third successive Olympic gold medal.  It was another excellent match demonstrating  the quality of women's football at the top end. Two very different styles that still managed to produce a world class decider. 

Don’t get me wrong, the game hasn't reached the summit yet.  There are still significant issues to overcome. Lack of critical mass means no country, including the football (or soccer) mad US, can sustain a fully professional league.  There are also questions of depth in the game but when you consider that 5 years ago France and Japan were barely on the international football landscape, development is occurring at a rapid pace.  Many nations are getting serious about their women's football programs.

To save a small minority typing time, I will address the main argument against women's football; it's not as fast as the men's game.  I don't disagree. Let's face, it will probably never be as fast as the men's game because, this will be a shock I know, women are physiologically different to men.

However, I would challenge you watch the Brazil v Japan, USA v Canada from these Olympics or the 2011 World Cup final or the USA v Brazil quarter final and argue that they were lacking as fantastic football matches. 

Here in Australia the women's game mirrors the international evolution.  This summer the fifth season of the W-League kicks off. Like women's football worldwide, there has been a marked improvement in the skills and tactical nous of the players and coaches.  There will be the big personalities on display and rivalries will recommence and the competition is transforming into a product we can be proud of. 

For a long time lovers of the women it's an exciting time. Equally exciting is that we no longer have to defend our game because the players say it all on the pitch.