For superstar Sam Kerr, the home World Cup began with bad news. The title fights should end with a medal. With Australia’s first medal in a major tournament. For Kerr it would be the perfect end to a long World Cup career.
As she stands at the door, it clicks three, maybe four times. A few photos, nothing more. While her trainer, Tony Gustavsson, smiles as usual and almost euphorically takes the last steps to the lectern, Sam Kerr doesn’t seem quite as enthusiastic.
Is the hype over?
Apparently the big hype is over. Alone the external conditions in Brisbane one day before the game for third place between Sweden and Australia on Saturday (19.08.2023, 10 a.m., in the live stream and live on ARD) suggest this. The press room is only about a third the size of the one in Sydney before the semifinals. There are also only ten cameras set up (instead of almost 30) to report on what Gustavsson and especially Kerr have to say. Some chairs even remained empty.
But the longer the question-and-answer game between the superstar and the journalists, the better Kerr’s mood gets. In the end she even laughs several times, for example when her trainer answers the questions of the Swedish colleagues in detail in his native Swedish and she simply understands the station.
Kerr: No comparison to Freeman
Sam Kerr is the face of Australian women’s football and has been for many years. Her trademark are spectacular goals, which she then occasionally celebrates with a backflip. She did exactly the same thing in the semifinals against the English, to equalize 1-1 in the meantime. A hit for eternity, so it was read in the local newspapers. “I instinctively decided to take this shot”, she says in retrospect, it couldn’t be planned. Nor does it compare to the moment when Cathy Freeman won the gold medal in the 400 meters at the Olympic Games 23 years ago. “Personally, I would never compare something like that, others have to do that.” Sam Kerr remains calm.
“We united the country with football”
But these superlatives in connection with her person also contribute to the fact that the press conference ultimately lasts over half an hour, which is quite unusual for the tournament. Kerr also has a lot to say, though. It’s been an unbelievable four weeks and nobody, really nobody could have dreamed that they and their team would be supported by an entire country.
“We wanted to create something sustainable” remarked the 29-year-old, who won the double with Chelsea this season in England. “But now I feel like we’ve brought the whole country together with women’s football. It’s so incredible, these last few weeks will be talked about in Australia for a very, very long time.”
Kerr injured – bad news before the first game
For Kerr, that dream nearly burst like a bubble. And one day before the opening game. In the final training session, she sustained a calf injury. Which is initially kept secret. But when she failed to feature in the starting XI on the official score sheet against Ireland, alarm bells went off across the country.
The calf makes it impossible to use, that’s the first information. As it later turns out, Kerr’s entire tournament is in jeopardy. “Message like this can pull the whole team down terribly”explains Tony Gustavsson. “And for Sam, of course, that was the hardest moment in her career. But she coped great.”
muscle injury – “Everything new for me”
What he means: Kerr worked, did everything every day to be able to get back on the pitch. She was treated around the clock. “I’ve never had a muscle injury before, it was all new to me”says Kerr. “I have to say a big thank you to the medical department, otherwise I probably would have missed the best moments of my life.”
Fourth World Cup should be the last
No matter how it ends, the game for third place against the Swedes: Their fourth World Cup should be the last for Sam Kerr. “I still really want to play with this team. Also the next World Cup in four years. Maybe then there will be a few more babies.”laughs Kerr, alluding to the fact that more and more mothers are playing in national teams, including Katrina Gorry of Australia, whose daughter Harper celebrated her second birthday on the day of the semi-final against England.
And then her eyes sparkle again, as if to say: I’m far from done! She definitely wants to secure third place, which would also be another milestone in her career. And that would fit well into 2023, when she becomes the first woman to be on the cover of the FIFA 23 game and at the coronation of Charles III. allowed to fly the flag of Australia.