Sam Kerr has melted the hearts of the nation with an intimate embrace of US Women’s National Team midfielder and partner, Kristie Mewis, after the Matildas’ 2-0 victory against Denmark.
Kerr came on late in the game to raucous cheers as the Stadium Australia crowd rose to salute her tournament debut, thus far prevented by a calf injury sustained ahead of the opening fixture against Ireland.
Kerr and Mewis have been a public item since at least the Tokyo Olympics after a viral moment when Australia played Team USA, but this World Cup saw the Americans knocked out in sensational fashion by Sweden, ending Mewis’ tournament.
It was no deterrent to her making her presence felt in support, and Kerr was pictured heading over to her for a sweet embrace after the game.
It comes amid Kerr’s bombshell reveal at the end of the game, revealing she was fit and able to play against Canada last week — but was rested.
“I was going to play last game. The girls smashed it,” she said when asked about her recovery.
“They didn’t need me. We thought we would give it a rest. Today there was the opportunity that I wouldn’t play if the girls smashed it. We thought it was best for me and the team. The girls absolutely killed it. I’m so proud of them. Me coming on personally it was just a big relief after a big three weeks.”
Kerr made it a perfect night for Australia, coming onto the field with ten minutes to play as the Matildas moved through to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Denmark.
Kerr had declared she was match fit, but was a devastating figure standing all alone on the sidelines while her teammates completed their pre-match warm-ups without her.
The Aussie team’s week had been dominated by rumours that have continued to swirl around Kerr with the superstar striker missing on-field training sessions this week as she continues to manage a calf injury.
However, she looked back to her brilliant best in the brief cameo she had in front of a crowd of more than 75,000 at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Monday night.
Now she has just five days to prepare for a quarter-final in Brisbane on August 12 — the fourth time Australia has made it through to the last eight of the Women’s World Cup.
While Kerr only had a few minutes to work her magic, Mary Fowler had 90 minutes to dazzle the crowd and ran rings around Denmark defenders.
Fowler had a hand in both goals Australia scored and left commentators blown away.
It was Caitlin Foord who scored the first goal on the half-hour mark after she was put into some space by a freakish pass from Fowler. Foord finished it off with a classy nutmeg through the keeper’s legs.
It was 2-0 in the 70th minute when Hayley Raso scored on the back of a movement that began with Fowler dancing her way into the box.
Kerr was loving every minute of it as she sat on the pine — and she eventually got her special moment after 80 minutes when substituted onto the field.
The win has set up a mouth-watering quarterfinal clash between either France or Morocco in Brisbane on August 12.