{"id":355164,"date":"2023-12-22T20:34:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T21:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=355164"},"modified":"2023-12-22T22:01:41","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:01:41","slug":"how-big-realisation-flipped-world-cup-for-matildas-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=355164","title":{"rendered":"How 'big realisation' flipped World Cup for Matildas star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like most of us, the first thing Matildas<\/a> goal keeper Mackenzie Arnold does when she wakes up in the morning\ufeff is check her phone.<\/p>\n

While some of us might then make our bed or drink a glass of water, Arnold instead \ufeffreaches for her hearing aids \u2014 or she does when she remembers them.<\/p>\n

In April, Arnold saw an audiologist in London \u2014 where she plays her club football for Women's Super League side West Ham United<\/a> \u2014 at the request of her older brother Sam who has worn hearing aids since he was a toddler.<\/p>\n

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Arnold had always struggled to hear her teammates on the field, but when the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world in 2020 and wearing a face mask became the new normal, the 29-year-old quickly realised just how much she relied on lip-reading to help understand what others were saying.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After a series of tests, it was confirmed that Arnold had lost part of her ability to hear high frequencies including the "s" and "t" sounds and some other consonants.<\/p>\n

Arnold chooses not to wear her hearing aids during games but is "still trying to figure out" how much of an impact wearing her hearing aids has on her match preparation and performance.<\/p>\n

In adhering to superstition, the shot-stopper \ufeffdid not wear her hearing aids during the Matildas' shock 3-2 loss to Nigeria\ufeff at the FIFA Women's World Cup<\/a> but later realised with a stomach-dropping thud that she had gone the entire day without wearing them.<\/p>\n

While Arnold did not play terribly, she was partly responsible for Nigeria's third goal after a miscommunication between her and defender Alanna Kennedy left an unguarded net for Barcelona star Asisat Oshoala.<\/p>\n

\"BRISBANE,<\/p>\n

As the penny dropped, \ufeffArnold considered that her brain may not have been stimulated enough in the lead-up to the match causing her to lack awareness and connection.<\/p>\n

"It was a big realisation when I didn't wear them for that game," Arnold tells Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffWhether it was the cause of how I played or not, and I'm not making excuses, but it was something that I then wanted to make consciously part of my routine to I guess to stimulate my brain a little bit more as I wake up.<\/p>\n

"Whether that's hearing more or hearing clearly [throughout the day], I just try to make it part of not just my game-day routine but my everyday routine."<\/p>\n

\"Mackenzie<\/p>\n

The World Cup was Arnold's first major tournament since being fitted with hearing aids\ufeff.<\/p>\n

While the roar of the home crowd could have been extremely overwhelming, Arnold instead rose to the occasion.<\/p>\n

After all\ufeff, she knows no different having played top-level football since 2011.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"It's normal as the whole way through the World Cup I didn't wear my hearing aids and during games [my hearing loss] doesn't really affect me," she says.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"It's more so when I'm in louder environments and I'm trying to have a conversation \u2014 the words can sort of mix up a bit.<\/p>\n

"But in games, I'm not affected too much. I just sort of get on with it like I have for the last 20 years."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like most of us, the first thing Matildas goal keeper Mackenzie Arnold does when she wakes up in the morning\ufeff is check her phone. While […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":317525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355164"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355168,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355164\/revisions\/355168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/317525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}