Matildas bombshell as Sam Kerr is spotted wearing ice pack on her calf as Tony Gustavsson provides concerning update ahead of Women’s World Cup semi-final against England… but is all as it seems?
- Sam Kerr’s right calf was heavily bandaged after training on Tuesday
- The Matildas superstar injured her left calf before the start of the tournament
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Australia have been given a major scare ahead of their World Cup semi-final against England as Sam Kerr was spotted with a heavily strapped right calf on Tuesday.
The Matildas star sported an ice pack on her right calf as he walked back into the team hotel on Tuesday with her teammates after training.
Kerr, the Matildas captain and all-time leading goalscorer, injured her left calf a day before Australia’s tournament opener against the Republic of Ireland last month and was forced to miss all three group stage games as a result.
The Chelsea forward came off the bench for the last 10 minutes of the 2-0 win over Denmark in the Round of 16 clash and was introduced with 55 minutes gone in the quarter-final against France on Saturday.
Kerr converted one of the spot kicks as the Matildas beat France 7-6 in a penalty shootout to advance to a World Cup semi-final for the first time in their history.
Sam Kerr was spotted returning to the team hotel with a heavily strapped right calf
The Matildas star trained regularly with her teammates earlier on Tuesday
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Speaking on Monday, the 29-year-old said she was ‘ready to go’ against France having shrugged off the calf injury she sustained in training before the tournament, but revealed the plan was always to get her fit for the semi-final.
‘When I hurt my calf, the plan was to always to [try to] be ready for a semi-final, the final.
‘So I could have [started against France], but who knows what could have happened?
‘The girls have been smashing it and absolutely dominating.
‘I was ready to go, but we’ve had a plan this whole tournament and we just had to stick to it.
‘That was part of the plan, to get 20 minutes against Denmark to make me feel better for this game and now with another, what, 65 minutes, I feel better for it and I’ll have more training under my belt.
‘So I feel ready to go. I think with everything that’s been going on, the best thing for [the France game] was the plan we did and the plan we followed.’
Australia is currently in a state of Matildas-mania, with the question of Kerr’s fitness being the nation’s most hotly debated topic since she pulled up with a pain in her calf at 9am on July 19, at the team’s Queensland Sports and Athletic Centre base in Brisbane.
At his press conference on Tuesday, Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson remained coy when asked whether Kerr would be fit enough to start at Stadium Australia on Wednesday night.
‘She [Kerr] pushed through more minutes than we hoped for to be honest,’ he said.
‘One of the reasons why we kept her on the bench was that we were uncertain how many minutes she had coming back from that calf injury but also the limited training minutes she had.
‘The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive both from a mental and physical aspect.
Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson remained coy on whether Kerr would start against England
‘She recovered well, she trained today so she’s available.’
Gustavsson confirmed all 23 players in the squad were available for selection, but conceded he faced some ‘tough decisions’ ahead of naming his starting XI for the semi-final.
‘There’ll be a meeting tonight again to see the best starting 11 and the best finishing 11 and whether we plan for 90 minutes or plan for extra time and those type of decisions,’ he said.
‘There’ll be some tough decisions tonight again, but Sam is definitely available for selection.’
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