The Matildas have been rocked only an hour out from their opening Women’s World Cup match with news of a calf injury to talismanic captain and star striker Sam Kerr.
As the crowd poured into Stadium Australia on Thursday ahead of the clash with Ireland, Football Australia announced on social media that Kerr would be unavailable due to a calf injury picked up on Wednesday.
“Sam will be unavailable for the next two matches with the Matildas Medical Team to re-assess her following our second group stage match,” the team tweeted.
SQUAD NOTE: Sam Kerr is unavailable tonight after she picked up a calf injury at training on MD-1. Sam will be unavailable for the next two matches with the Matildas Medical Team to re-assess her following our second group stage match.
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 20, 2023
The Matildas indicated that the injury had been sustained during their final pre-match training session, in Brisbane on Wednesday morning.
Manchester City striker Mary Fowler was picked in the Matildas starting eleven in Kerr’s place. Fowler scored the only goal in the team’s warm-up win over France last Friday.
Kerr fronted a press conference on Wednesday evening and gave no indication that anything was amiss. But after Football Australia announced the news on Thursday, she took to Instagram.
“Unfortunately I sustained a calf injury yesterday in training,” Kerr said.
“I wanted to share this with everyone so there is no distraction from us doing what we came here to achieve. Of course I would have loved to have been out there tonight but I can’t wait to be apart of this amazing journey which starts now.”
Kerr’s absence compounds coach Tony Gustavsson’s injury woes.
The team selected veteran Kyah Simon, who is still recovering from a long-term ACL injury, knowing she may not be available until the knockout stage.
Tameka Yallop went down after a heavy clash in last week’s France clash and has yet to return to full training.
