 Welcome to this conversation on the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, which is currently underway in Australia and New Zealand. I of course have the privilege of attending what is my first Women's World Cup as a reporter, as a journalist covering the event. We are at the quarter-final stage and that's why we have gotten together a couple of superstars to talk to us about the tournament so far. We have with us on the show today, Zee Chauhan, India captain, India goalkeeper. Also here with us is Sharda Ogra, who's been a regular on the show of course and who's been talking to us about sport, women's sport, cricket, as well as her current number one, which is the sport of football, a sport that she has associated with more and more closely over the past few years. Thank you for joining us this morning or this afternoon guys. Start with you Aditi, how's it been? We've had a pretty exciting round of league games followed by the first knockout round and we're heading into the quarter-finals. I guess everything's still to play for and one of the most open World Cup finals we've seen in recent times. I've been following it very closely as many matches as I can and it's one of the most interesting World Cups I've watched so far. Before the World Cup started, there were talks that players like Marta Rapino, who've been legends of the game, who I and a lot of us grew up watching are perhaps playing their last World Cup, maybe their last few matches as well of their career. So it was really interesting to watch them how, you know, in fact, I thought that maybe one of them would have their destiny written like Messi. But unfortunately not, I think we'll see a new champion this time and heartbreaking of course for Marta Rapino, Sinclair, who's the top scorer, men or women, many, many athletes who've been legends and who've been inspirational figures who've definitely changed the sport for the better. Yeah, absolutely. Sharda, have you also been watching as closely? I watched the Sweden take out the United States, which was the biggest upset right as you go very early and a really critical stage of the tournament. And it's great to hear Aditya talk about Rapino and about Marta because you saw Rapino missing that penalty and you were saying this is one of the things that you'll always get in sport. Sort of the ultimate kick that sport gives you a football or whatever to say that if you thought that this is about perfect endings, it rarely is. So Messi really has to count himself as extremely fortunate that he got his perfect ending. It should have been Mbappe's day, had it been another day, that was the world moving stars were aligned differently, who knows. But it's been fantastic to watch women's football for just so many things, the entire ecosystem around which it works and you're watching the crowds. You know, the crowds has been fun, the coverage has been fun, reading all the back stories of the athletes, of the footballers that are there and how they came up. The Swedish goalkeeper, all kinds of stories, sub-stories, sub-plots. We can talk a bit more about what's been happening on the pitch first, but then get into some of the stuff off the pitch, which is equally important. And one of the things that does stand out, of course, this is a World Cup and despite that, the disparity between sort of how it is covered. It's the same sport, essentially, the sport of football, which is the number one sport around the world. But how it's covered and even the kind of environment in the press box and in the media tribute and all of these places is quite different from what it is or what it was in Qatar, for example, just a few months ago. That's the other interesting sort of part of it, that it's coming so close after a men's World Cup that it's kind of natural that you draw comparisons because they are so fresh, right? We've just seen that happen, you know, six months ago. So two World Cups in pretty much the same year gives us a great platform on which to compare how we have treated the men's game and the women's game. And this applies, of course, across the board as much to us as journalists as it does to anyone else. So resources that we get as, for example, independent journalists who are covering to travel, Australia is a big country unlike Qatar, right? Where everything was happening in the same city. So it was much easier to get around and look at different teams and look at watch various matches. Here things are happening across firstly two countries, New Zealand also hosting some of the games. And Australia itself is a big country and the cities are all kind of spread out. So it involves a decent amount of travel and things like that. So I think several journalists choosing to pick a spot and then base themselves there and maybe travel for only the later stages of the tournament, the knockout rounds, maybe the semi-finals, the final and all of that. Fortunately, somebody has given me a couch in Sydney and 11 games are happening in this city, which has been quite a good thing. 11, of course, including the opener that Australia played as well as the final which will be on the 20th of August. So that's a pretty good sort of in a normal tournament anyway, a journalist wouldn't get to cover more than 12 to 15 matches. So in that sense, it's been really good. I mean, what I'm most impressed about is that whether it's been the group stages or even the first knockout round, even in games where the host country is not playing. And we had this concern with New Zealand going out of the tournament and Australia also coming quite close to a similar kind of situation. That what will happen to the momentum, to the interest, to the fan engagement with this tournament if the host go out. But actually, you've seen packed stadiums, the action in Sydney, for example, two stadiums are hosting. One is called the Sydney Football Stadium and the other is called Stadium Australia. So the action has moved from Sydney Football Stadium to Stadium Australia and Stadium Australia has a capacity of over 75,000 people. And the last game, of course, was a big one. The host nation was playing and qualification for the next round was on the line. So you would expect a full crowd. But even for the next game that's happening, which is Columbia versus England, the quarter final that's happening at Stadium Australia, the kids are completely sold out. So again, there'll be 75,000 plus people at the ground watching these two countries, which are halfway and perhaps the whole way across the world. So that's the kind of level of interest that has been raised. And there is very much, I mean, like we were having this conversation, Sharda, around the US game. Where, you know, it's a rare instance in which the United States, even though there is a strong sentiment against the United States winning the tournament. In this situation, it's a little bit different because everyone accepts and understands how much many of these... Aditya was mentioning Megan Rapinoe. There are so many... There's an entire couple of generations of football players from the United States women footballers who have actually fought many of the very important off pitch on the pitch, of course, but also off pitch battles that have allowed the sport to grow to where it is today. Still a lot to be done, of course, but that's essentially been my experience so far of the first couple of weeks. And I think as the tournament gets closer to the winning, where the winning and losing matters more, it'll only build up. And it'll be the platform on which then some of these other conversations can be taken forward. So going back to the football, I mean, I don't know, whichever one of you wants to come in, your top sort of teams as of now, we have eight countries left, of course. So who are you backing? What are your reasonings? What are the highlights? I think maybe from a football perspective, from a tactical and sporting perspective, maybe you can give us your assessment. You're also a television pundit now so you've good at these things. I mean, I've really enjoyed just as a fan as someone who likes watching football. I've really, really enjoyed watching Japan like we saw from them in the men's World Cup. They've been organized at the back and been very, very efficient in front of the goal. You know, everybody was surprised when they scored four past Spain. That was obviously not expected. And I'm sure that was a huge blow for Spain, but they were able to come back from that loss. And Spain, it was surprising because Spain also looks in a very, very good form. They play beautiful football and just the skills, the pace, the intensity, the movement of the players. It's so fluid to watch like you would expect from Spanish side, just maybe a little bit more efficient in front of the goal. But other than that, I think Spain, for me, in terms of just the pure flow of the game and of course individual talent. And for Japan, it's about the teamwork and the work ethics and also some very, very talented players. It's not easy to stay compact, defend and then go forward against a team like Spain where you're so efficient in front of the goal. So lots of positive, of course, Columbia scored a beautiful goal. It was the first touch itself, like that's top class goal. I mean, if you saw that in a men's game, you'd be singing laurels. But unfortunately, not enough people are watching and all have watched that goal to talk about it more. So these are the things, I mean, there's some really top quality. And the most interesting thing for me is that, you know, a lot of surprises, a lot of smaller teams that you can call them or lower ranked teams making their mark. That just shows the kind of development and how far women's football has grown around the world. You know, you talked about the US and their dominance. So it's become more competitive, like how the US used to walk into a tournament like this and be the clear favorites. Now they're struggling to get out of the group stages. This shows not that they're not good enough, but the fact that the other teams have now really picked up the pace. Fitness was something that US had the advantage of. Now every team has both science, they understand the importance. Everyone's competing against them in terms of fitness, but also have got the quality and, you know, the skills, tactical ability as well to execute the plan and read the opponent. So it's become very, very technical women's football and you can see the individual talent as well. Just to focus a bit more on Japan and Asian country and looking at it from an Asian football perspective as well. Great to have not one but two nations representing the Asian confederation, the second of course being Australia. But for Japan we saw of course that game against Spain that you were talking about and then a very different tactical approach in a sense. In the game against Norway in the round of 16 which also they went through quite comfortably although Norway possesses a great amount of talent. Even against Spain they changed their formation tactically, it went 5-4-1. You could see like from the setup that maybe it was very defensive and they'll be sitting back but that was not the case. As soon as they were getting the ball they were just sprinting forward all the players joining the attack. Some great through passes, some great accurate passes. And then just the intent that whatever the opportunity they are getting they have to make the most of it. So they've changed themselves according to the opponent but also had the belief that they can go on to win the game. Yeah and absolutely right on the break they've looked a bit scary. The way the entire team kind of presses forward and moves up and you've seen defenders getting goals in that bargain. You've seen a lot of second balls being addressed being taken care of. Lot of chances being created of those second balls and putting that constant pressure. Especially when they move into the opposition third on the team that is defending to try and make something happen. So how do you fancy Japan's chances and do you think that they are the strongest of the Asian countries? Of the two remaining Asian countries of course with the best chance of moving through also looking at the side of the draw that they are on. Yeah I was just looking at the draw they are going to be facing Sweden in the next match if I'm not wrong. And I think Australia is going to be facing Denmark. So I do feel watching Sweden, Japan I think can be really efficient. Sweden I think don't have as many goals as they would have liked. But I do fancy Japan going forward a bit more. Of course Australia has got you can't underestimate the power of having the home crowd. And of course now Sam Kerr their best player is also back from injury. So that adds a lot of advantage. So very interesting I think I would love to see any of the teams win. But of course for me Japan would Japan's win or if they are able to win would be great to watch. Yeah Japan are of course previous World Cup winners back in 2011. A lot has changed and some of it was pointing out in the last 10, 11, 12 years a lot has changed as far as women's football is concerned. And what you are seeing today I think is also a starting point of how things go to the next level. Shaja we were kind of recapping some of these highlights of the tournament so far. We have a potential rematch coming up in the semi-finals between Spain and Japan. That should be an exciting one that is of course if they get through their respective quarterfinals. But as of now at least I am looking at it that is how this is panning out. For me I am hoping for August 20th Japan versus France final here in Sydney. How have you seen it from a footballing perspective what has been the highlight for you? What have you enjoyed the most? What I have actually enjoyed the most has been watching sort of I think just the physicality of the women players that are there. What I like watching about women's football at any level is the lack of absolutely what they call professional fouls. In that sense you have seen somebody stamping on other players and getting red carded and all of that. But I think what I like to watch is the athleticism of the women that are there. And it is a very bizarre thing to be seeing when you should be watching goals and you should be watching all kinds of other things. Is because the surprise of people that are watching around you is what gives me great pleasure. What did you think that this was the women's football world cup was not going to be high quality. It was going to be just girls playing. So seeing that and having seen it improve over the years and having seen it. If you go back to see the video footage of the first few editions of the world cup and now. And this happens across all sport. You know men and women. You can see the speed with which the game is played and you can see this. But at the same time the women's game is still open and flowing in a way that you don't find in the men's game. That kind of flowing football that you get to see and the skills that you get to see without them being shut down by professional fouls. But yeah the France versus Japan final is a dream final. I think 75,000 people are coming to that stadium to see England lose against Columbia because these are Australians. They're going to be cheering for the Colombians as well. But the history of Australian football is also very very mixed. The reason why they were not such a successful team even though they had such a large number of immigrant populations both in Sydney and in Melbourne. Is because of how the game was run and all the internal fighting that we know all about it because there's so much of it in Indian sport also. And it's important actually for the Australian women to come through and almost to sort of show the men that this is how it's done. This is how you win world cups you know. I think the figure of Sam Kerr is also very important because she is the highest earning women's football player in the world. She is almost like the messy of her game in that sense of the kind of stature and the kind of rewards that she has. So it's many things are kind of going on. I'd love to have seen Brazil still being there because Brazil is just an idea as much as it is a football team. It's just a notion that you have of the brazilness of football. It would be nice to have them there but tough luck. Not everything ends. Not all scripts have to have a fair retail finish. So it would be good. The Sweden result against the United States was a big one but I hope this is as far as they'll go. On that note we will take the leave of our audience. I hope you guys watch this share also share with your friends. The tournament is getting to a really interesting stage. You still have some time to jump onto the bandwagon if you haven't already. Whatever platform I think FIFA Plus is showing it something called fan code is showing it. I'm sure you can find streams online. Ladies sports as well. So fantastic the national broadcaster doing its job even if it's not doing its job when it's broadcasting proceedings in parliament. Thank you very much for joining us on this special episode of 420 grams. Coming to you either on Newspick or 420 grams. We'll be back again on Sunday hopefully with some of this crew. Aditi Sharda thanks so much for your time. Bye thank you. The flag is all around.