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Two teenage girls' devotion to their favourite Matildas player has paid off after they received the gift of a lifetime on a night they will never forget.
After the disappointment of the Matildas' 2-0 loss to Sweden in Brisbane on Saturday night, the young fans went down to the fence as their heroes did a lap of honour.
Friends Talia Legzdins, 13, and Amelie Kemper-Massie, 14, were waving posters of their favourite players, Hayley Raso and Ellie Carpenter, when they caught Raso's eye.
Raso smiled, waved and then jogged to their side of the field.
"I just thought she was going to do recovery or something, but she was talking to someone and she grabbed a pair of boots," Amelie said.
"She ran back over to me and I didn't know if she was coming to me or not.
"She came up to the barricade and she passed me the boots.
"I had a pen ready but she was like, 'I've already signed them. Take them.' And she passed them to me and she smiled.
"I screamed and I was like, 'Oh I love you so much!'"
'Still revelling in it'
Talia's mother, Anne Carroll, watched it all unfold and said the girls were "thrilled" after dreaming of being given a shirt or some boots.
"The girls were just going nuts," Ms Carroll said.
"Amelie gave one boot to Talia, so they each have a boot.
"It was really disgusting – they were smelling the boots, cuddling the boots.
"They wouldn't let go and they're still revelling in it.
"It was such a magical night."
Ms Carroll said Talia played soccer at school but had stopped to take up AFL on the Sunshine Coast.
After the Matildas' World Cup run, however, the girls have fallen in love with the round ball game.
"Before all this they said that if they got a pair of boots or a shirt that they would start playing soccer," Ms Carroll said.
"They're honouring that now — they're going to look into joining soccer again."
Dreaming of glory
Amelie, from Sydney, said the prospect of success on the world stage made soccer alluring.
"I used to play soccer more, but I gave it up for rowing," she said.
"But I think watching them do all these incredible things, it makes me really want to go back to it.
"Just seeing how they've worked together as a team and how much they've changed how people view them — I think it's just incredible and I'd love to be part of that one day.
"All of my friends, we've loved Hayley Raso's ribbons, so we've all started wearing ribbons to school."
Amelie said she would create a shine for her boot and that Talia would keep the other one.
"I think it's only fair that we both have one," Amelie said.
"Like, I wouldn't have been able to get it without her and I know she'd do the same for me.
"I think we're going to get a glass box and plaque, because they're really incredible.
"I'm definitely going to frame the poster and I'll hopefully have them together, probably up in my room or something."