The success of the ninth edition of Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which ended last Sunday, has displayed just how rapidly women's football has advanced in recent years and the huge crowds that attended the tournament have to be a good omen for the future.
The high standard of play impressed many and the presence of several teams capable of challenging the traditional favourites USA certainly made it the most exciting tournament in women's football history.
Another encouraging sign is that the lower-level teams are closing the gap, many of the unfancied countries giving a good account of themselves.
New champions Spain should be congratulated on their fine performance coming as it did with an extraordinarily uncomfortable relationship between the players and unpopular coach Jorge Vilda.
It must be the first time the winning coach in a world tournament has been roundly booed by his own fans as he collected his medal after La Roja beat England 1-0 in the final.
There was much to savour from the tournament and most importantly there are signs that women's football is taking off in many countries where before it had not been taken too seriously.
This was the case with hosts Australia where other codes of football have traditionally ruled the roost.
The Matildas did well to reach the semi-finals before succumbing to England 3-1 in front of a 75,000 crowd in Sydney and 7.3 million television viewers in England.
Several other nations enjoyed unexpected success with unfancied Jamaica, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa all reaching the knockout stages, while powerful sides like Germany, Brazil and Canada fell by the wayside.
The tense clash between Spain and England in the final proved to be a fitting climax to the tournament.
The Lionesses went into the game as slight favourites but La Roja responded in style and were well-deserved winners.
Adding to the emotion of the occasion Spain's captain Olga Carmona, scorer of the 29th-minute winning goal, found out just after the match that her father had died two days before.
The Sun newspaper paid tribute to Carmona with a "Hero's Heartbreak" headline and she was named "player of the final." Just imagine her emotions.
There were plenty of sympathetic headlines for England's Lionesses who had received terrific support from the millions of fans back home.
Throughout the tournament there were large attendances at parks, pubs, malls and stadiums where the fans, including thousands of children, cheered on their team.
Defeat in the final was hard for the England supporters to take, especially the younger fans, as many believed the Lionesses were destined to win the trophy.
But the Spanish team spoilt the party by playing smart football and proving too strong.
The defeat also came as a disappointment for English newspapers.
"England dream in tatters" was the Daily Mail headline while the Mirror had "Lionesses left crying on pitch."
The Guardian's take was "Spain serve up bittersweet ending".
Not surprisingly the word "heartbreak" featured in many headlines.
However, the newspapers were upbeat about the overall performance of the Lionesses and expressed pride at reaching the final for the first time.
There was also well-earned praise for England's respected Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman.
England forward Lauren Hemp summed up the feelings of the nation perfectly: "We created history but we wanted more. So much more."
England v Scotland
In a much-anticipated encounter, England and Scotland expats will battle it out for the Alex Forbes Memorial Cup at Patana International School today. Kick-off is at 3.30pm. Last year's match proved to be a very hard-fought affair with game finishing in a 0-0 draw.