Matildas captain Sam Kerr says the monkey is finally off her back after scoring her first international goal in 851 days – and the superstar has hinted her trademark backflip may not be far away.
Kerr was the hero on Sunday night, with her 14th-minute header lifting Australia to a 1-0 win over the Philippines in their Women’s Asian Cup opener in Perth.
It was Kerr’s first Matildas goal since netting against Taiwan in November 2023, just two months before she tore her anterior cruciate ligament and spent 20 months on the sidelines.
“I just wanted to get that first goal out of the way,” Kerr said after Sunday’s win in front of 44,379 fans at Optus Stadium.
“It kind of felt like getting the monkey off my back, netting my first goal for the national team again, because I hadn’t scored for a while and the two camps before, I would have liked to have scored to kind of get that feeling back.”
Kerr has always been a prolific goalscorer, with her moments of magic often accompanied by an acrobatic backflip.
After suffering two calf tears at the 2023 World Cup, Kerr had hinted that her backflipping days might be over.
But after scoring her 70th international goal in her hometown, the 32-year-old is contemplating bringing back her trademark goal celebration.
“Yeah, maybe later on in the tournament,” Kerr said.
“I feel like getting back into the goal scoring mood with the national team, but backflips are still on the cards. Everyone keeps asking me that.”
Australia’s next game is against Iran on the Gold Coast on Thursday night.
The biggest talking point heading into that contest will be the instability in Iran following the Israeli-US strikes that killed Iran leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Matildas coach Joe Montemurro didn’t want to get into any specifics surrounding Iran, but expressed his hope that the focus would be on football rather than politics.
“I think football is a family. Football’s an amazing family,” Montemurro said.
“And I think with the Asian Cup, we can showcase some amazing athletes and some amazing people.
“We’re supporting the the team and supporting whatever comes. But we want to make sure that the focus is on football and giving moments and special situations to people.
“So we hope that we have a good game against Iran, and we showcase how beautiful this game is.”
Australia unleashed 15 shots to one against the Philippines and enjoyed 85 per cent possession, but only had Kerr’s header to show for it.
The skipper hopes her goal will start a hot run for the rest of the tournament.
“I feel really lucky that I could be back in this squad for this tournament and play the opening match,” Kerr said.
“And I just feel like getting my confidence back in the national team – a big part of it is scoring goals. So to get that goal is really good for me.
“Hopefully, it starts me off on a good goal-scoring run for the rest of the tournament.
“The most important thing is that we got the win.
“But I’m really happy on a personal level, to be able to score, and hopefully that means I’ve got a few more in the bag coming up.”
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