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Reserves captain Steve Catley said Sam Kerr still played a vital role in Australia’s 1-0 win over Ireland on Thursday, despite the forward being ruled out of the Women’s World Cup opener due to injury.
Kerr was sidelined with a calf injury picked up in training on Wednesday and will also miss the hosts’ second Group B match against Nigeria in Brisbane next week.
Catley said the players were “heartbroken” by the news but the defender replaced Kerr as captain as well as penalty taker, and converted a penalty kick in the 52nd minute to give the Matildas the win.
“We had to pull ourselves together pretty quickly. But we used her spirit and we used the fact that she wasn’t able to be with us to help us move on.”
“It all adds up to what we already offer and I think that’s what it’s going to take as long as you might miss her, but she still has a role whenever she plays, she’s such a masterful lady for us.
“She’s so important, she’s our spiritual leader. Sam shared nonstop, from the first locker room conversation to the last.”
Kerr, who is the country’s top scorer with 63 goals, watched the match from the bench at Stadium Australia which was packed with a record crowd of 75,784.
“I wanted to share this with everyone so there is no distraction from us doing what we came here to achieve,” Kerr posted on Instagram an hour before kick-off.
“Of course I would have loved being there tonight but I can’t wait to be a part of this amazing journey that starts now.”
The team said she would be re-evaluated by the medical team after the Nigeria match.
Australia kicked off the tournament with a wave of momentum after winning nine of their 10 matches, including a 1-0 win over France in a friendly last Friday and a 2-0 win over England in April, which ended the Lionesses’ 30-year unbeaten run. match.
There was some injury speculation surrounding Kerr after the France match when she was seen with an ice pack on her hamstring after dislocating it in the 62nd minute.
This is the fourth World Cup final for Kerr, who has spoken of his pride in playing on the world stage in front of a home crowd.
The fans who entered the stadium, many of them wearing T-shirts bearing her name, were appalled by the news of her injury.
“Oh, that’s no good, that’s too bad, that’s terrible, she’s our best player, and that’s bad for us,” fan Matt Starr said.
The match did not go entirely for Australia as Ireland defended and pushed forward looking for an equalizer in the last 20 minutes.
“We were expecting that there would be moments where it would be a little bit of tension and a little bit of slack,” Catley added.
“So we beat that, we were still able to get the job done. And that’s thanks to a lot of the faithful in the dressing room, and also Sam and everyone constantly talking and fixing problems as they kind of come up.”
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