Matildas captain Sam Kerr close to taking over from Tim Cahill as Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer
Sam Kerr only needs two more goals to surpass Tim Cahill as Australia’s all-time leading scorer.
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Sam Kerr is set to become Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer at the tournament in which she netted her first goal for the Matildas.
The Matildas captain has scored 49 goals for her nation, one shy of Tim Cahill’s record of 50.
The first of Kerr’s goals for the Matildas came at the 2010 Asian Cup, when the then 16-year-old attacker scored in Australia’s 3-1 win over South Korea.
And she’s now likely to chalk up her half-century of goals and start her next 50 at the 2022 Asian Cup, perhaps as early as Friday night when the Matildas open their campaign against Indonesia in Mumbai.
The game will be 28-year-old Kerr’s 105th appearance for the Matildas. Cahill’s 50 goals were scored over 108 Socceroos appearances.
Matildas vice-captain Steph Catley said the entire squad was proud of Kerr’s achievements.
“It’s incredible,” Catley said.
“She’s so humble and that helps us as teammates to build her up when we need to and speak positively about her.
“She’s an incredible goalscorer and that’s an incredible achievement for Australian football. She deserves every bit of it.”
Such is the humility of Chelsea forward Kerr, who was this week runner-up in the battle for the world women’s player of the year, that Catley doubts her captain would even have known she was on the verge of breaking Cahill’s record.
“Sam always approaches every tournament, every game, exactly the same, no matter what record she might be breaking,” Catley said.
“She is the last person to think about those records and probably know about it.
“It’s not anywhere in the front of her mind. She’s thinking about the game and how she can help the team.”
Originally published as Matildas captain Sam Kerr close to taking over from Tim Cahill as Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer
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