Social media trolls have turned on Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter, targeting the 23-year-old with vile online abuse after Australia lost its World Cup semi-final.
Carpenter had played every minute of Australia’s World Cup campaign and while she was arguably solid without being spectacular, at her tender age, she already makes up the backbone of Australia’s defence.
But trolls have turned on Carpenter after the Aussie star had a moment to forget, which handed England what proved to be their game-winning goal.
Off a great lofted through ball, Carpenter was jostling with Lauren Hemp to get the ball.
Needing to clear it, Carpenter appeared to have two air swings at the ball before overrunning the bouncing ball, allowing the England striker to reinstate the Lionesses lead minutes after Sam Kerr’s stunning strike.
England would complete a 3-1 win and move through to a maiden World Cup final against Spain, while Australia will play Sweden for third-place on Saturday.
While the Matildas and the nation who had jumped on the side’s bandwagon were devastated after the game, online trolls felt it was the time to harass Carpenter in a gutless attack, Newscorp reported.
“Sick of you … you cost us the world cup final … go back to the kitchen now …” wrote one troll.
“How much did u (sic) get paid to throw the game,” asked one punter.
“You cost Australia the final. Garbage,” read another.
Another posted: “Don’t feel bad about tonight. It was your manager’s fault for keeping you on after you couldn’t complete a cross or forward runs/passes for the entire first 45 minutes.
“Anyone else would’ve taken you off at halftime, your fatal f**k up was inevitable. His fault, not yours.”
Fans then came to Carpenter’s defence, with one fan Amelia Sandy on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Facebook page calling for fans to “show Ellie Carpenter some love on her instagram page”.
“It’s one thing to critique a player in private … but she’s getting comments like ‘this is why women shouldn’t play sport’ and ‘go back to the kitchen’,” Sandy’s call-out read.
“Just awful.”
Carpenter has reportedly put restrictions on her social media accounts after the vitriol.
Carpenter only returned to the field in February after tearing her ACL in a horror injury in the 2022 Champions League Final.
Former Matilda Amy Chapman, who was commentating for Optus Sport, was also critical of Carpenter’s defending.
In the moment, former Matilda Amy Chapman said on Optus Sport: “And it’s some awful defending from the Australians. Ellie Carpenter, not dealing with the initial ball in behind. It really shouldn’t have been anything at all. But Lauren Hemp, she’s hustled all evening, she’s been England’s best all evening and she puts that one away no troubles.”
Post-match, Chapman doubled down on her comments.
“There’s no mistaking after that Sam Kerr equaliser, seven minutes and 53 seconds it took for Lauren Hemp to put England ahead again,” she said.
“I’m a big fan of Ellie but that’s a colossal mistake. A game-changing mistake from her not to deal with that and Hemp was there to pounce.”
Carpenter was a disconsolate figure after full-time, but she was far from the only one.
Speaking to Channel 7 after the match, midfielder Katrina Gorry said it was a hard loss to swallow.
“It sucks,” she said. “You feel like you let yourself down and your nation down.
“I know that we have the support of everyone and they will come out against the game against Sweden. You never want to do that on home soil. Unfortunately it wasn’t our day.”
Similarly, captain Sam Kerr, who played in her first full match of the World Cup in the semi-final, said the loss was “really disappointing”.
Despite scoring one of the goals of the tournament, Kerr also missed from close range when a bouncing ball near the goal mouth fell to her but she sprayed it wide late in the match.
“If I trained more, five times in this World Cup maybe I would have sunk that one,” Kerr lamented.
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