343: Sam Kerr, Australia, Panini FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Adrenalyn XL Trading Cards

The first FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930 and featured just thirteen teams for a range of reasons which could only have occurred in that particular decade. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had resigned from FIFA two years earlier following a dispute over payments to amateur players and refused to participate despite invitation. Japan and Siam (modern day Thailand) couldn’t manage the lengthy sea journey and withdrew while Egypt, Africa’s sole representatives in FIFA, missed the boat to South America due to storms in the Mediterranean. Belgium, France, Yugoslavia and Romania provided Europe’s representation at the tournament and the latter only attended following the intervention of King Carol II who was rumoured to have even had had a say in the make up of the squad.

Much has changed in the last century and the World Cup has been hosted in six different continents and featured participants from all around the world. The recently completed FIFA Women’s World Cup was the first to be held in Oceania as Australia and New Zealand shared hosting duties and the excellent tournament they oversaw has convinced the Australian government to launch a bid to host the men’s tournament in 2034. New Zealand made the perfect start to their campaign with a 1-0 victory over a highly rated Norwegian side but a shock loss to the Philippines and a draw with Switzerland saw them exit at the group stage. Australia also started with a 1-0 win against the Republic of Ireland and matched their Antipodean neighbours with a similarly surprising 3-2 defeat to Nigeria before recovering with a rousing 4-0 victory over Canada to secure qualification to the knockout stages. It was not, however, until the last ten minutes of the Matildas’ 2-0 victory over Denmark in the second round that captain Sam Kerr took to the field much to the delight of the 76,000 people in attendance in Sydney.

Sam Kerr was barely interested in football before the age of 12, having followed in her brother’s AFL footsteps, but by the age of 15 had already made her debut for the national team. Within a year she had scored her first international goal in a 3-1 win over South Korea and, ahead of this year’s World Cup, had found the net 63 times in 120 appearances. Her performances at club level have been similarly spectacular with 240 goals in 364 games in Australia, the USA and England where she has lit up the Women’s Super League as part of a dominant Chelsea side under Emma Hayes. The Blues completed a league and FA Cup double in 2022/23 with Kerr providing the winner at Wembley and her reputation as a big game player has made her a talismanic presence for club and country. Therefore it was a major concern to both the Matildas and the tournament organisers when Kerr sustained a calf injury in training ahead of their opening fixture with Ireland.

The latter should be irrelevant but such is the nature of modern football that an injury to the ‘figurehead’ for the tournament would have several marketing types sweating. Although not a native of Japan or South Korea such was David Beckham’s international significance by the time of the men’s 2002 World Cup that his broken metatarsal in the build up led to a national prayer campaign and a crash course in the biology of the human foot. The 2014 men’s World Cup in Brazil provided the shy and retiring Neymar with an even larger audience than usual for his occasional footballing brilliance and regular histrionics. The devastation caused by his injury in the quarter-final against Colombia led to the Selecao posing with his shirt in absentia ahead of their semi-final shellacking at the hands of Germany. Thankfully such measures were not called upon to aid Sam Kerr’s recovery and she declared herself fit for the Matildas’ final group stage game against Canada. Common sense prevailed, however, and the striker was not risked until the business end of the tournament.

With Australia in the grips of football fever ahead of their quarter-final with France manager Tony Gustavsson stuck with the players who had brought the Matildas’ this far in the tournament but, with the game goalless in the second half, he summoned Kerr from the bench. She dispatched her shootout penalty to help her country on their way to a semi-final with England for which she led her nation out as captain in front of 76,000 people. The Lionesses took the lead in the first half but after an hour Sam Kerr reminded the world of her excellence. Having picked up a pass on the halfway line she sprinted forward scattering the English defence before smashing the ball past a despairing Mary Earps into the top corner from twenty yards to send the crowd into euphoria. Unfortunately for the co-hosts it was not enough to stop an inspired England running out 3-1 winners leaving them with a third place play-off rather than a World Cup final on home soil. Perhaps lacking the energy and inspiration for this final push the Matildas fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden.

The 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup provided a fantastic advert for the game in terms of the quality of football on show, the attitude of the players and the presentation of the tournament both on screen and at the stadia. Australia was gripped by the performances of their national side, no mean feat in a country where ‘soccer’ often comes fourth in sporting priorities, and the Matildas demonstrated their strength in depth in the absence of their captain. It’s gutting that Sam Kerr was only able to feature fleetingly in this global showcase but there is almost an inevitability of her lighting up the upcoming Women’s Super League season with Chelsea. She will be nearing 34 at the next World Cup but it would be foolish to dismiss the idea of her making more footballing history. It would be even more foolish to discount the Matildas.