Australia insist they have the firepower to make a deep run at the Women’s World Cup with or without star striker Sam Kerr, who will miss at least the next match against Nigeria on Thursday with a calf injury.
Kerr did not train on Monday and the Matildas have said they will reassess her condition ahead of next week’s final group stage encounter against Canada. But in a hopeful sign for Matildas fans, Kerr posted photos to Instagram of her working out in the gym at the team’s base camp in Brisbane.
With Kerr ruled out of the game on the opening night, Australia struggled to get through Ireland’s defence and needed a Steph Catley penalty to break the deadlock. But, speaking following the training session, Matildas veteran midfielder Katrina Gorry insisted the team would be able to find goals in their captain’s absence.
“We’re not looking at it as a blow for the team,” said Gorry. “We have incredible players all across the park. For us it’s about focusing on the players that we do have, we know Sammy is always next to us, always supporting us. It gives us a bit of fire in our belly to keep going out there, working harder and in the last minutes of the game putting in that extra effort for her.”
The Matildas have not provided a further medical update on Kerr since Thursday, when it was revealed that she had suffered a calf injury while warming up for the team’s final pre-match training session ahead of the Ireland clash.
“We’ll need her in the back-end of this tournament,” said Gorry. “She’s staying on her plan and we’ll stay on ours and we’ll get her there.”
Gorry, who is only a handful of caps away from making her 100th appearance for the Matildas, pointed to the breadth of attacking options across the team. Manchester City’s Mary Fowler started against Ireland in Kerr’s place, while Gorry, Caitlin Foord, Charlotte Grant and Alex Chidiac have all supplied goals for the Matildas in recent games.
“I think that’s why we’re so dangerous – you never know where the goals are going to come from, they can come from all across the pitch,” said Gorry. “That’s what makes us dangerous, it doesn’t matter what players are playing, they’re always going to bring that X-factor. That’s why we’re so hard to stop at the moment.”
The 30-year-old, who plays her club football with Vittsjö GIK in Sweden, said the Matildas needed to focus on controlling the match against Nigeria.
“For me personally the turn-overs [are an area for improvement] – too many lost balls,” Gorry said. “I think we just need to stay more composed on the ball, keep more possession, so we don’t have such a big transition game. It’s definitely something we’ll work on leading into the Nigeria game. The more we can control the game, keep possession of the ball, the less second balls we need to pick up and win.”
Gorry’s midfield partner Kyra Cooney-Cross was tight lipped on Tuesday about how the team was adapting to Kerr’s absence. “As a team we’re just focusing on Nigeria,” she said. “Sam is doing her own thing to get back as quick as possible.”