There were plenty of mind games ahead of Australia’s Group B finale against Canada but after the Matildas hammered the Canadians 4-0, head coach Tony Gustavsson revealed the truth.
In a post-game press conference, Gustavsson said the star striker’s message to her teammates before the game was: “Win without me so I can get another week to train and recover.”
Gustavsson added: “And the team responded and said, ‘Yes we will, you sit on the bench tonight and we will win for you.’”
Kerr missed Australia’s first two matches of a home World Cup, suffering a calf injury in training the day before the opener against Ireland.
After an unconvincing 1-0 win over the Irish was followed by a shock defeat to Nigeria, the Matildas had their backs against the wall for their group finale against Canada.
Australia sent Kerr to face a pre-match press conference, with the 29-year-old declaring herself fit for the Canada match.
There were always going to be questions around Kerr’s actual fitness, however, with Australia incentivized to keep Canada guessing by at least giving the appearance that one of the world’s best strikers would play.
Gustavsson’s words made it clear that Kerr was likely never going to be ready to face the defending Olympic champions. Luckily for the Matildas, she wasn’t needed.
It was an imperious performance from Australia at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, with a first-half double from Hayley Raso setting the tone and second-half goals from Mary Fowler and Steph Catley adding the gloss to a dominant display.
Now Kerr will be given an entire week to rest, with Australia’s last-16 game set for next Monday in Sydney.
Gustavsson said that although Kerr was cleared to play at least some part against Canada, he had a feeling his side may produce a performance that would ensure she wasn’t needed.
“It felt like before the game the players were so convinced they could do it without her,” he said. “We kind of just said, ‘Let’s just focus on that first.’
He added: “You could almost see that conviction and commitment from the players. And having that belief as well as a team without, in my opinion, the best striker in the world, and to still go out and play the fluent football we did and score four goals against the Olympic champions, I think it’s very impressive.”
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