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Australia qualified from the group stage earlier today with a 2-1 victory over Norway to confirm second place in their group behind Brazil. 

Now, the Green and Gold Army – Australia’s official football fan network – are in the process of activating a string of national venues to show the Sweden game (see www.ggarmy.com for more details).

Fans too are having their say with forums abuzz as the spotlight is now very much on the side.

It’s in response to the growing profile of the green and gold girls. The Matildas recently made history by being the first female footballers to grace the cover of FourFourTwo magazine and their quarter-final will only increase their profile.

“I used to think being in the same magazine as ones with Beckham on the front cover was pretty special. Now I’m on the front cover,” said Matildas captain Melissa “Bubs” Barbieri.

“Maybe a few female readers will start on the FourFourTwo bandwagon.”

 Green and Gold Army representative Mark Van Aken added: “There’s no doubt that we are seeing interest in the Matildas at an all-time high.”

Dual World Cup Matilda Di Alagich agrees. “At the 2003 World Cup they didn’t even have the results in the paper," she said.

"Now it’s on TV, papers and internet. It’s a massive difference in Australia.”

One Aussie super-fan is Melbourne-based Paul Wilkins. At half-time of January’s Asian Cup semi-final against Uzbekistan he made the snap decision to fly to Qatar to support the Socceroos in the final.

He said if the Matildas made the World Cup final, he’d consider jumping on a plane to Germany.

“The Matildas have been awesome," he said. "They’ve got such spirit and to have come back from that disgraceful [hand-ball] decision against Equatorial."

“I’d definitely consider flying to Germany if we made the World Cup final.”

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