Lisa De Vanna has never done things quietly. So it took many by surprise when, after the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the Matildas’ all-time leading goal-scorer went underground. Media interviews were rare. Public appearances rarer still. True to character, she blocked everything and everyone out to focus on what came next.
“I just wanted to focus on myself, reflect a little bit moving forward,” De Vanna told Guardian Australia. “It was a big moment for me as it was potentially my last World Cup and that was hard to realise, you know, it’s coming to an end.“I just wanted to focus on myself, reflect a little bit moving forward,” De Vanna told Guardian Australia. “It was a big moment for me as it was potentially my last World Cup and that was hard to realise, you know, it’s coming to an end.
“Obviously, the circumstances – what happened previously – we were a bit unsettled. We’ve been together for a very long time, so that mentality of winning didn’t die, but it wasn’t the outcome that we wanted. I personally expected better, and I expected better of myself, but it wasn’t the case.”
While her World Cup journey had potentially reached its end, De Vanna continued to work. Less than a month after the tournament, at the behest of then Matildas head coach Ante Milicic, she signed for Serie A side Fiorentina – a signal that her national team aspirations were not over.
“After the World Cup was quite tough for me,” she said. “I just wanted to keep low and continue to play football elsewhere. That’s why I escaped a little bit,” she says.
“I’m half-Italian so I wanted to play there. I’d heard about the league and obviously the way they played against us [at the World Cup], I didn’t think they were that shit, so I decided to go over there. And that was one of the criteria that was asked of us: that we needed to play professionally overseas to be seen.
“It was one of my favourite football experiences. I love the culture, I love the passion, I love how they’re so family-oriented. I like how they’re straightforward, dramatic, all of that.
“I loved Florence. When you had those days when life feels like shit, you get on your bike and you ride down and see the Duomo, you go past and you see the Michaelangelo. You start to have a bit of perspective in life and you start to realise you’re living in one of the most historical, beautiful cities. That takes away the shit day.”
She was adored at Fiorentina. The owner made a point to shake her hand after they lost to Arsenal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, and again after their first league game. She was invited to the VIP suite and was introduced to some of the club’s big names. Her teammates loved her, too. “Just the way that I tried to be smart,” she said. “I took the mickey out of them and they just loved that. They loved that I’m passionate and a straightforward kind of character.”
Her football was improving, as well. She’d scored five goals in 14 games and was racking up the minutes. She felt they could make up ground on league leaders, Juventus. But then Covid-19 hit.
“I was spewing,” she said. “I didn’t realise how serious it was, to be honest, because I don’t follow the news. I really switched off from the world, so I didn’t know what was happening back home. I didn’t understand anything; I was just living in the moment, which is something I’ve never done before.
“I didn’t realise how bad it was until we drove all the way to play AC Milan, which is a five-hour bus drive. We get there and they knew there was a case somewhere, because up north is where it hit really badly. We drove five hours up there and the next morning they said, ‘game cancelled’, then we had to drive all the way back.
“These Italians, I tell ya, they’re just like, ‘relax, everything’s okay’ so they take forever to get things done, which killed my life. But it taught me how to be patient, because patience I don’t have.”
De Vanna spent several months in lockdown in Florence, waiting for decisions to be made. Flight delays and border closures added to the stress. “I had anxiety,” she said. “Some days I was depressed. I wasn’t allowed out of the house, and if we did, we’d get fined.
“I remember I went outside once in 10 days, just to get food. One time, I went outside for a walk, the cops pulled me over. Lucky I pretended I didn’t understand Italian – and they told me, ‘go home’. So I went home, otherwise I would’ve been fined $1000. They got really strict in the end.
“I tried to do some exercise in the house. I had a good support network, so I would talk to a lot of people. I did a list of things that I had to get through each day, so it just kept my mind busy. It takes a strong mind to do that alone in Italy, friends and family at home, not knowing what the fuck is going on because Italians aren’t the best communicators.”
The pandemic intensified her desire to be surrounded by the comforts of home and family. A few months after returning to Australia, she signed for former club Melbourne Victory. The primary reason was to be closer to her sister, Sonya, who gave birth to her first child eight months ago in Melbourne.
De Vanna has been leaning into her responsibilities as an aunt. Today she is driving home from the local pool where she did a recovery session with her new nephew, Henry. Despite the occasional expletive aimed at the surrounding traffic, she sounds far more settled than what her past 18 months suggests.
“That’s life, I think,” she says. “Things happen that you learn and grow from. Good things happen, shit things happen, and it shows the character that you have.
“It happens to everybody; I’m no different to any other player or any other person that goes through life … I really just want to be in a good team environment and play some good football, and I think the rest will come. That’s my main priority. If I’m good enough [for a Matildas re-call], then I’m good enough. If not, then I’m not.
“Every player wants to have that heroic send-off. Winning a World Cup, put your hand up and walk away as a legend. I wish I was Abby Wambach and have her ending, you know? But I’m not, that wasn’t the case. But you never know in the future. I’m a strong believer that things happen for a reason, so I’m hoping that my reason for all of this will come soon.”