Women’s World Cup viewers have reported crying buckets of tears over this tournament, in ecstasy and celebration, and heartbreak and defeat.
Much of the emotion has been expressed while watching the Matildas, whose World Cup final hopes have ended after a .
Most of us have never met the players, but we feel like we have relationships with them, sports psychologist for the Australian Institute of Sport and AFL Mary Spillane told SBS News.
“They’ve done a really great job of making us feel like we know them, through their socials and the access that we have to them, as well as their documentary,” she said.
When we watch the Matildas, or any sports team play, it creates changes in our brain, she said.
“When your team wins, there are changes chemically; we get a rush of endorphins and dopamine.
“And that makes us feel really, really good and the bigger the game, the bigger the wins the…