Australia should be your new favorite team at the women’s World Cup

No one will tell you that you should stop supporting the country of your birth, or another country that you are a citizen of. But if you don't like that team, or if they've been eliminated from the World Cup? Consider supporting Australia. They've been wildly entertaining in all four of their games, and they pulled off the biggest win in their history on Sunday.

The Matildas pulled off a big upset over Brazil, winning 1-0 and becoming the first Australian team -- men's or women's -- to win a World Cup knockout game. They were supposed to struggle to scrape third in Group D and one of the knockout stage spots as one of the best third-placed teams, but bettered Nigeria, earned a draw with Sweden and scored a great goal against the United States in their effort to finish second. They were underdogs against Brazil in their Round of 16 match, but outplayed them for most of the match, defending well and looking dangerous on the counter.

De Vanna, by the way, might be the most entertaining player in this tournament. Besides being crazy fast, she takes her role as captain seriously and tracks back on defense more aggressively than any other forward that you're ever going to see. She closed down Brazil's midfielders like crazy, especially in the dying minutes, when her pitbull routine prevented Brazil from creating anything substantial.

This is a team of fun players, playing a fun style, and they've already come up against four of the 10 or so best teams at this tournament. They've beaten two, drawn one and given the other everything they could handle. And if their two games at last year's Asian Cup are any indication, they're going to give Japan a nasty challenge if the defending champs are going advance to the quarterfinal, as expected.

They might not have the size of the United States or the technical skill of Japan, France or Germany, but Australia is playing some of the best soccer at the World Cup. They're playing faster and harder than everyone else, it's a joy to watch, and it's got them to a quarterfinal.