AUSTRALIA star Sam Kerr has been spotted with an ice pack on her calf ahead of the Matildas’ World Cup semi-final with England.
Chelsea ace Kerr, 29, has been managing a calf injury throughout the tournament.
The forward sustained the injury on the eve of Australia’s first group game against the Republic of Ireland.
Kerr’s calf issue forced her to miss the entire group stage, although her team-mates were able to see the Matildas through.
The Aussie star returned for the final ten minutes of her side’s 2-0 win over Denmark in the round of 16.
She then came on in the 55th minute of Australia’s quarter-final penalties triumph over France, scoring in the dramatic shoot-out.
READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
After training earlier today, Kerr was spotted walking to the team hotel with an ice pack wrapped around her calf.
Australia take on the Lionesses tomorrow morning for a place in the World Cup final.
Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson was optimistic when asked if Kerr would start against the reigning European champions.
He said: “She [Kerr] pushed through more minutes than we hoped for to be honest.
Most read in Football
“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.
“She recovered well, she trained today so she’s available.”
After the France match, skipper Kerr claimed that she could have started against Les Bleues.
‘I FEEL READY TO GO’
She said: “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 vs 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.”
Read More on The Sun
Kerr is the Matildas’ all-time leading goalscorer with 63 goals for her country.
Australia are aiming to win their first ever World Cup, having advanced to the semi-finals for the first time in their history.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
