3 Sydney FC wins A-League Grand Final on penalties in seal double

The Sky Blues dominated the A-League throughout 2017 but their Grand Final triumph against Melbourne Victory occurred in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Sydney were forced to come from behind twice, firstly during the match and then in the shootout having gone 2-1 down after two penalties each. Danny Vukovic saved from Marco Rojas and Milos Ninkovic converted the decisive spotkick for a 4-2 shootout win. Victory had gone ahead through Besart Berisha in the first half. Sydney only equalized in the 69th minute when Rhyan Grant forced the ball home after David Carney’s effort rebounded into his path.

2 Matildas win Tournament of Nations, sparked by Kerr

The Matildas became almost every Aussies’ favourite national team midway through the year after they were crowned winners of the Tournament of Nations in the United States. Australia came up against some of the world’s best sides, in Brazil, Japan and USA, but finished up top of the pile after three stunning displays.

The hero was Sam Kerr who was the tournament’s top scorer with four goals. Her best moment was nailing a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Japan, while the 6-1 win over Brazil was the team’s big headline-grabbing moment. Kerr’s acrobatic backflip celebrations also became the symbol of the side’s success.