Tokyo Olympics news: Matildas squad announcement, Sam Kerr leads soccer gold medal tilt

The Matildas have unveiled a squad full of firepower for Tokyo but will face a massive task to progress from a group with two top-five ranked countries.

The Matildas will look to blaze their way to Olympic glory after picking an attack-focused squad for their assault on the Tokyo Games.

Superstar Sam Kerr will lead an outfit bursting with attacking qualities, and desperate to overcome both a recent form slump and an Olympic history that has seen them twice bow out in the quarter-finals – but never reach a medal playoff match.

There will be 12 players returning for redemption following their heartbreaking 2016 quarter-final penalty shootout exit to hosts Brazil, including Kerr and her strikeforce partners Kyah Simon and Caitlin Foord, while experienced goalkeeper Lydia Williams also returns, as does the bulk of the team’s defenders and midfield.

Sam Kerr will skipper the side in her second Olympic Games. Picture: Getty

At 18, Mary Fowler is the youngest member of the 18-strong squad and one of six debutants – a list which includes fellow teenager Kyra Coooney-Cross and 36-year-old Aivi Luik, who will offer versatility in both midfield and defence.

“The Matildas are a really, really exciting team. We’re fast, we’re strong, we’re fit, and I feel like the rest of the world knows that about us,” Kerr added.

“It’s really about using our strengths to the best of our abilities.

But being able to even match the quarter-final exit of the 2016 Olympics looms as a difficult task, however, with Australia grouped alongside top-ranked USA and world No.5 Sweden as well as trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand.

The top two finishers from each group automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, as do the top two third-ranked teams across the group stage.

18-year-old Mary Fowler has also won her way into the 18-strong squad. Picture: AFP

Recent results paint a bleak picture, with the team making a shocking start under new coach Tony Gustavsson conceding 13 goals in four games, including heavy defeats to Germany and the Netherlands, as the Matildas dropped to ninth on the FIFA rankings last week.

But the Swedish mentor said the Matildas would not die wondering in Tokyo.

“I’ve said from day one we’re not going to make any excuses, we’re going to go there and play and do the best we can,” Gustavsson said.

“We’re really running them hard (in training) right now because we know we’re going to be one of the fittest teams going into the Olympics.

“We’re doing everything we can with minimum time to prepare ourselves as best can be come that opening game.

“Once that’s there, what we’re focused on is we’ll leave every ounce of ourself in every single game, every single minute, and then the result will take care of itself.”

Experienced midfielders Chloe Logarzo (hip) and Elise Kellond-Knight (ACL) both did enough to convince selectors of their fitness to make their second Olympics.

Australia open their Olympic campaign against New Zealand on July 21.

MATILDAS SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Tegan Micah, Lydia Williams.

Defenders: Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Alanna Kennedy, Clare Polkinghorne, Aivi Luik

Midfield: Emily van Egmond, Elise Kellond-Knight, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Tameka Yallop, Chloe Logarzo

Forward: Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Emily Gielnik, Sam Kerr, Hayley Raso, Kyah Simon