Back in 2006, long before Australia fell in love with the Matildas, Lydia Williams was in mad rush to finish an evening team meeting in Canberra. She wolfed down dinner and then her and her teammates bolted out the door as quickly as possible.

The reason? To catch a Pink concert at the AIS Arena.

Almost two decades later, they’re both still going strong – and on Saturday night, Williams got to meet one of her musical idols backstage before her show in Melbourne, presenting her with a little piece of history.

Relenting to intense public pressure after Mackenzie Arnold’s shootout heroics at the Women’s World Cup, Nike is now selling Matildas’ goalkeeper jerseys – something it has never done before for an Australian team, male or female. Pink and her daughter, Willow, were the first in the world to get their hands on the retail version, which goes on sale on Tuesday.

“She grabbed it right away. She was like, ‘These are sick’,” Williams said.

There aren’t many more famous people in Australia at the moment than the Matildas – aside, of course, from touring musicians Taylor Swift and Pink. The former’s tour wraps up on Monday night, but the latter is still going strong; so strong that Pink is basically an honorary Australian, given how often she seems to be performing here. She has sold more than three million career tickets here and in New Zealand, and her current show – the Summer Carnival tour, which runs through to the end of March – will be seen by more than 900,000 people.

“She loves Australia, and she loves Australians,” Williams, 35, said. “And supporting women’s sport, she’s a huge advocate. When she realised it was about the World Cup and the first release of the jerseys, her excitement and genuine curiosity ... she’s smiling big in the photo, so she’s definitely pumped about it.

“She’s like the Taylor Swift of our generation. If Pink had that level of social media back then she would be the equivalent to that.”