Charli Grant - “That was unreal!”

Charlotte Grant was ecstatic after her first international goal helped the CommBank Matildas to a 2-0 defeat over European champions England.

She spoke to the press after the game, expressing her excitement.

“That was unreal!” she exclaimed.

“I’m so proud of the girls for getting the win but and then to get a goal as well on top of that, it’s just so exciting.

"It's still crazy to think that I've just scored, but I just saw Sam get the ball and I didn't see many numbers in the box so I just thought, I'm just going to get in there. She's got great technique and she put it on a platter for me so hats off to Sam," Grant said when recounting her maiden CommBank Matildas' goal.

"I couldn't believe it had gone in until everyone started running over and screaming at me. I just put my head on it and hoped for the best, I’m just glad it went in the back of the net, but I’ll claim it!" she continued.

Grant referenced the atmosphere in the squad as one of the reasons for their success. In particular, she was asked about a TikTok she posted involving some of her teammates dancing and lip-syncing to Taylor Swift.

“Everyone’s always keen to get involved with a little bit of TikTok. It’s not like I forced some of them to do it!” she laughed.

“It’s a special team… we get along really well and everyone just pushes each other to be the best version of themselves on and off the pitch. It’s a really great group of girls.”

The other reason that she cited was ensuring that they stuck to their game plan, focused on themselves, and executed well.

“I think it’s just about sticking to our game plan and sticking to our high-pressing game,” she explained.

“That’s what we do really well. We had a lot of great moments in the Scotland game doing that, but we continued to do that today in the England game and just kept believing.”

In terms of her own performance, Grant was careful to not get ahead of herself.

“It was quite difficult playing up against some of those wingers and I think they got me a couple of times,” she said.

“I’m getting better each game and I’m just going to take lots of learning opportunities and confidence from the things I’ve done well.”

The World Cup is now less than a hundred days away. All eyes now turn to what this result means for the tournament.

Grant was asked just what kind of boost it would be to play the World Cup on home soil.

“Having a home crowd, every time we play at home is so exciting,” she replied.

“Even today with the atmosphere, it was unreal, and it really pushes you to work harder. I think that’s really exciting going into the World Cup to have our home fans. We had some here today and it just pushes us to the next level.”

What, in Grant’s words, can we expect from the World Cup?

“I think it’s going to be really special,” she said.

“We’re going to put out our high pressing game and high attacking game and I think we’re just looking to make the nation proud - and get some really good results!”