FIFA Women's World Cup: Hayley Raso's rise from Canberra to Matildas star

She has always been that way. Now an entire nation is finding out.

A Raso brace has sent the Matildas to the FIFA World Cup's round of 16, setting up a date with Denmark at Stadium Australia on Monday night.

But this Real Madrid-bound winger is only scratching the surface.

Former Canberra United coach Rae Dower has always thought "Hayley could be anything she wanted to be", from the moment she laid eyes on the Palm Beach junior as a teenager no older than 14 or 15.

Raso was warned she may never walk again after breaking three vertebrae in her back following a horror collision while playing for Portland in 2018. A year later she had established herself as a vital cog in the Matildas machine.

Now the 28-year-old with electrifying pace is proving there is life in an Australian outfit who have come this far without Sam Kerr in a tournament blown wide open heading into the knockout stages.

"The great thing about Hayley is just that smile she has on her face," Dower said.

"Yes, she's fierce and she's got a fierce look on her face when she's running down the wing. To see her just drop to her knees and celebrate with 30,000 people in Melbourne was incredible, but she just does it with a smile on her face.

"I've always thought Hayley could be anything she wanted to be. Sometimes her legs go so quickly, her poor little brain is trying to catch up with what she's doing next.

"She was always such a joy to coach, such an amazing talent, and you can actually really build great attacking, exciting football around the magnificent skills and strengths she has. Her qualities are amazing and they're really rare. It puts her apart in the women's game, being so quick and electrifying.

"She's pretty infectious, she's got that smile and it brings everyone else on the journey with her."

Raso will play club football at one of the sport's biggest names next season after signing a deal with Spanish giants Real Madrid. The move comes after three years in England's Women's Super League with Everton and Manchester City.

Some rise for the attacking weapon who once plied her trade at McKellar Park and Deakin Stadium.

Raso was 17 when she packed her bags for Canberra, impressing United coach Jitka Klimkova during a week-long trial after being overlooked for a Queensland Academy of Sport scholarship in a program overseen by then-Queensland Roar head coach Jeff Hopkins.

Cracking the Matilda-laden Roar side of the day was a tough ask for anyone, so Canberra it was.

Raso would pull on playing shirts from Brisbane to Portland and Washington to Melbourne in the years that followed. Then Dower became coach of Canberra United, and when she wanted to create a team renowned for an attacking brand, she knew who to call.

Now Raso is trotting around with the sport's global powerhouses, and two goals in a 4-0 win over Canada in Melbourne last week revived Australia's World Cup hopes and sent the Olympic Games gold medallists packing.

Yet Dower still doesn't think the Matildas firebrand is "anywhere near her potential".

"I spent a lot of time, probably way too much time than I'd like to remember, trying to get her to have the technical proficiency catch up to her skills and her speed," Dower said.

"I still don't think she is anywhere near her potential. She could actually just continue to improve and be better. The more she is able to get those subtleties around the touch on the ball and getting herself to slow down in that final moment, once she can really add that to her bow, she's still got so much more left in her.

"She's always been like that, she's always had that positive smile and that big infectious smile. She's always been very charismatic and she brings you on the journey with her."

The journey now leads Raso back to Stadium Australia, where the Matildas face Denmark in the round of 16 of a tournament as open as any in recent memory.

World No.2 Germany are gone. So too are another tournament heavyweight in Brazil. Reaching the round of 16 are Morocco, the World Cup's new kids on the block, and the Reggae Girlz from Jamaica.

A win over Denmark would put the Matildas on course for a quarter-final clash with France or, in the case of a seismic upset, Morocco. Perhaps England would await in a semi-final.

A daunting task, yes, but Tony Gustavsson was quick to reel off names like England, France, Sweden, Spain and Canada when he sat down for his post-match press conference last week.

The common denominator? All have been beaten of late by the Matildas and all bar Canada, thanks to Raso's magical night in Melbourne, feature in the round of 16.

Now Kerr has a ball at her feet again, the superstar captain seemingly on the verge of coming back from the calf injury which threatened to derail Australia's campaign before a ball had been kicked. Through Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Mary Fowler and Raso, the Matildas have already shown they are more than a one-woman show.

Reason to dream?

"If they can put anything together like they did the past Monday night, then I'm certain they'll get the job done," Dower said.

"Certainly there is still room for improvement for them, but seeing the crowd get behind them and just lift them again when they needed it, it was incredible.

"I really believe they've actually now seen a bit of a glimpse of the possibilities of what could be.

"If they can keep those emotions in check and just play the game for 90 minutes like they did the other day, if they match that performance or go anywhere near that, I'm confident they can get the job done."

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