Wagga school yards hit with Matildas fever

World Cup chit chat has been flooding through St Joseph's Primary School over the past month, with year one students Patrick Looney, Alice Pulver, and Nicholas Cullen leading the charge.

The trio and their families have been eagerly following the Matildas campaign, with Alice determined to play like the stars when she's older.

"I love running and kicking the ball, I dodge people to score my goals," Alice said.

"[Soccer] makes you grow a lot and you get to learn a lot."

Confident the Matildas will win on Wednesday night in their semi-final game against England, Alice said she might not be allowed to stay up late but she'll be cheering them on.

"I'll watch it on my iPad," she said.

"I think we will win because Sam Kerr is on."

Alongside Kerr, Alice said Aivi Luik and Mary Fowler are her favourite players, though she wasn't sure why Fowler has adopted her now signature gloves.

"I think she wears them to be fancy," Alice said.

She wasn't the only one impressed with Fowler this World Cup, with Patrick identifying the forward as his favourite player.

"Mary Fowler is my favourite because she does all sorts of stuff really good," Patrick said.

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He said soccer is his favourite sport, and he's been watching the World Cup with his family.

Enjoying the games he said they don't yell too much at the television, but they cheer loudly when there is a goal.

He felt everyone should play like the Matildas, who pass and share the ball around, just like his teammates on a Saturday.

"Each person can have fun and join in," Patrick said.

"It's mostly about sharing the ball around and letting other people do fun stuff, we get goals too."

Nicholas said he loves to play soccer and enjoys the variety of skills he can use during games.

"It's fun and you get to keep on running and you get to do all sorts of things, like you can kick the ball, score goals, and do lots of things," Nicholas said.

Hoping to stay up late and watch the game on Wednesday, he thinks the Matildas can win but they will have to work hard for it again.

"I felt like in some they might lose, and then on Saturday it was like whoa, how did this happen," he said.

"I think we'll win by getting more penalties."

An informer soccer watcher, he said Sam Kerr will be the big difference for the Matildas in the big game.

"If she's around someone and lots of people are around her, there is normally a gap under somebody's legs where she can kick it through and someone else will be there," he said.

The Matildas World Cup semi-final game against England kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday night at Stadium Australia.

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