As Matildas hero Hayley Raso sat on the team bus on the way to Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, she looked up at the sky.
There she saw a full moon, something which has a special place in her heart, and gave her a little more confidence in the battle she had ahead of her.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Hayley Raso and mother’s matching tattoos.
Watch every Matildas FIFA Women’s World Cup™ match live and free on 7plus >> or stream all matches on Optus Sport >>
Raso and her mum, Renaye Sweeting have matching full moon tattoos on their arms, and the minute they saw the moon ahead of the Matildas’ must-win FIFA Women’s World Cup clash against Canada they felt something special.
“On the way to the game, on the bus, I text her (mum) and said it’s a full moon,” Raso said.
“She said, ‘It’s a sign’.’’
Considering what happened next, there aren’t many football fans in Australia that could argue with that.
The star hailing from the Gold Coast scored twice in the first half, threatened a third on multiple occasions, moved with purpose and confidence, and won player of the match in the 4-0 victory.
“The full moon is our thing, every time there’s a full moon we send it to each other,” Sweeting said.
“I just kept looking up to the moon just saying, please come through for her… and it did.
“I can finally breathe, I don’t think I’ve breathed properly for three days.”
Raso was signed to football powerhouse Real Madrid last month after two seasons with Manchester City.
The 28-year-old’s journey has been an uphill battle in recent times after fracturing three vertebrae in her back following an on-field collision in 2018.
Following a gruelling rehab period, Raso has gone on to play in two World Cups and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Monday night’s performance was another chapter in one of Australia’s epic comeback tales.