It's easy to withdraw and lick our wounds about the Westfield Matildas less-than-ideal departure from the 2011 Women's World Cup (WWC) (hence my noticeable blogging absence).

It's been a long, hard road to get people to take any notice of the women's version of the beautiful game and I was gutted that the one match a bunch of Australians tuned into watch was the one that didn't show the Matildas at their talented best. Even if it's the truth, saying 'Oh, but you should have seen them play against Brazil' sounds lame and like I'm a sore loser.

What I've continually thought, though, and what was mirrored by this morning's WWC final between Japan and the USA, is that there have been some epic, couldn't-have-been-better-scripted moments throughout the tournament that have made the world sit up.

Australia may have been knocked out of the WWC, but there are plenty of things that cemented this WWC as the best yet (I won't, unlike Juan Antonio Samaranch, say 'ever').

These include, of course, that pint-sized and disaster-ravaged Japan, led by five-time WWC attendee Sawa, came back not once by twice to force the two-time champions USA to a penalty shootout.

The USA have never lost a WWC final and much was made of the abilities of their tall, athletic, and hilariously named goalkeeper Hope Solo. Little was made of Japan's pint-sized team, which included in its ranks a player with a name that with its English pronunciation doesn't lend much confidence to her ability: Ohno. Add in the fact that the USA's team is backed by a fully professional league and, well, you don't get much more David v Goliath than that.

The final—and indeed, the WWC as a whole—included moments worthy of a Hollywood script:

  • Japan went from not making it out of the group stage four years ago to becoming the first Asian nation to claim the trophy.
  • The team was led by Sawa, who was on her fifth and possibly final WWC.
  • The USA made it to the final after Abby Wambach scored the latest goal ever in WWC history (in the 122nd minute) to help the team defeat Brazil.
  • The Matildas' youngest player Caitlin Foord was not only named in the starting line-up for the team's opening match against Brazil, she marked (and shut down) five-time-named best women's player Marta.
  • Foord went on to be named the best young player of the tournament, in recognition of both her technical prowess and her fair play.
  • The Matildas made it out of the group with a record six points and equaled their previous quarterfinal-berth best.
  • Emily Van Egmond reportedly became the youngest Matilda to score at the WWC.
  • The Matildas overcame an incredible Hand of OMG against Equatorial Guinea to win their group-stage match.
  • Football Federation Australia broke new ground and garnered support for the players through social media, including having head coach Tom Sermanni on Twitter answering fans' questions.
  • The Matildas were the lowest-ranked team to make it to the quarterfinals (and we know for a fact their skill and never-say-die attitude made the Swedes nervous—the Swedes told us so in the lift).
  • For the most part, coverage focused—refreshingly—on players' skills rather than their looks.
  • The Matildas were also the third-youngest team on average, but played with aplomb beyond their few, inexperienced years.
  • Freshly crowned champions Japan ruled out reigning champions Germans through a hard-fought quarterfinal match, proving that the Germany v USA final where the two footballing bohemoths battled it out for their third WWC titles was off the cards and excitement was on them.
  • Elise Kellond-Knight was named in the WWC all-stars team, the second Matilda to do so in two WWCs (Lisa De Vanna was named in the 2007 squad).

That's perhaps the best part of the WWC: it's been an edge-of-the-seat tournament and full of upsets, heroism, and technically gifted and beautiful football. Germany and the USA, of course, aren't happy that things didn't go according to plan, but that's the best thing possible for women's football.

If we disregard for a moment the Sweden game, the Matildas too had a brilliant WWC. But nor should we disregard it. The match was painful and, while I will never say it's the match we had to have, it was an invaluable football lesson for us, and one that will stand us in good stead for 2015.

There's also some hope for the Matildas as they prepare for the Olympic qualifiers-they've got a good track record against Japan (remember the Asian Cup?). Beyond that, though, is the hope for women's football internationally. If this WWC hasn't made the world take notice, nothing will.