Stumbling along without the main character is very difficult. The US office was never the same in the last series following the departure of Steve Carell. Queen was so obviously all about Freddie Mercury that her performances with a backup singer had to be billed as “Queen + Paul Rodgers,” and it still didn’t feel right.
Australia, co-hosts of the 2023 World Cup, find themselves in a similar situation. Ever since the decision to award this tournament to Australia and New Zealand four years ago, everyone has known that this World Cup is all about Sam Kerr. As you walk around Sydney this week, you’ll realize she’s quite literally the poster child for it.
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But in a tournament already marred by the absence of other key players through injury – Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead and Amandine Henry, to name just three – came the biggest story yet. Kerr hobbled out of warm-up yesterday in Australia practice with a calf injury. We don’t know the severity, but Aussie coach Tony Gustavsson hinted it was serious. “She will miss two games,” he said. “That says a little bit about what grade it is.” But what Gustavsson really meant was that Kerr would definitely have to miss two games and then the injury would be assessed. We could be talking about more than two games.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Australia announced Kerr was out just two minutes before the squad list was announced, despite their absence being known well in advance. Kerr’s pesky groin injury emerged early in yesterday’s training session but she chaired Australia’s press conference last night without mentioning her problem. Don’t take her or Gustavsson on with a game of poker.
“I hope you respect and understand why I couldn’t speak openly about it,” Gustavsson said afterwards.
“At that point we didn’t know 100 percent what it was. We had a meeting last night at 9:30 and that’s when we got the sad news. (pauses) Sam was an important part of Ireland’s game plan so we didn’t want to reveal that ahead of time. We didn’t play mind games that day. But we wanted to wait until the last second.”
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And so instead of leading her country in the biggest game in Australian football history, Kerr was a reserve player. Kerr was named as a substitute so she could sit on the bench and stay close to the team. Still, she behaved like a captain.
“I think it was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of my career,” said Steph Catley afterwards. “Sam is one of the best players in the world. She is our spiritual guide. She means so much to this team. So it was pretty awful that she went down the day before a moment like that. But I think it brought us something as a team; it added a little extra fire. And I think everyone looked at it and said, ‘Well, I have to step in now,’ because we don’t have Sam.”
Kerr, who cried as Australia’s national anthem played at Stadium Australia before the game, was indeed present on the bench but was sorely missed on the pitch. Part of Kerr’s brilliance is that she can use her movement and speed to turn hopeful balls into precise through balls. She makes life easier for her teammates.
Without her, Caitlin Foord was the front runner, but she’s just not the same type of player. Mary Fowler acted backwards and connected the game well, but didn’t manage the classic Kerr runs. As Gustavsson later mentioned, Kerr is also crucial to the way Australia defend set pieces and Ireland threatened her with a barrage of corner kicks.
“Sam Kerr is maybe the best striker in the world,” admitted Ireland coach Vera Pauw afterwards. “But Australia has so many strong and fast attacking players that it hasn’t changed our gameplay. The way they played, we had prepared for it. And I think we killed them in the way they’re trying to figure it out. They didn’t fall behind once. That’s a big compliment for our team. Our game plan worked perfectly.”
But the game plan was of course aided by Kerr’s absence. Without them, Australia really only had two plans when it came to possession.
The first was bringing in full-backs Catley and Ellie Carpenter and getting them to play one-twos, which worked reasonably well at times but also resulted in misses and turnovers, allowing Ireland to break through.
In the second game, the centre-backs and central midfielders hit long, hopeful balls for the two wingers. This was less effective.
But it was this second type of attack that ultimately paid off. Kyra Cooney’s cross ball for Hayley Ruso was certainly overkill, but Ireland’s Marissa Sheva ran into her back and conceded a penalty that Catley converted with remarkable coolness. That was the only difference between the teams.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
In truth, Australia has created little else. It was a typical performance by a host country on opening day; a little overwhelmed with nervousness, as Catley admitted afterwards. “We knew there would be nervous moments,” she said. “It was the biggest event of our career, we expected sloppiness and we overcame that.”
But the question wasn’t whether Australia won that game. The question is whether they can win the tournament and without Kerr the likelihood of a home win is significantly lower. Australia’s next game, after which their progress will be re-evaluated, is a week away. There’s no guarantee she’ll be fit for that final group game against Canada, and there’s no guarantee she’ll play in this tournament again.
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But Gustavsson insists Kerr remains a major influence on that side. “The way she reacted in training… Everyone knew it could be something, but the players were able to focus on training. Sam said, “This isn’t about me, this is about the team that plays tomorrow.” And she said the same thing today. And that she did that in that devastating moment says a lot about her as a captain.”
Catley, her successor as captain and penalty taker, agreed. “Sam’s still here, you know. She still has her effect on the team. She is present at every meeting. She’s there at half-time, talking to everyone. She holds the conversation before the game. she is sam And she is still with us. That’s why we’ll do everything we can to get as far as possible. And then hopefully we’ll see Sam Kerr later.”
(Header photo by Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)