Return of Sam Kerr unknown as Matildas bid to restore confidence after Olympics flop

With Sam Kerr still sidelined, the Matildas are set to embark on their post-Olympics journey in the hope of restoring belief within the camp.

Sam Kerr’s Matildas return remains a mystery, with interim coach Tom Sermanni focusing on restoring confidence in a shattered squad rather than worrying about when Australia’s superstar striker is fit to play again.

Kerr has been sidelined since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee in January.

Without her, the Matildas flopped at the Olympics, with Sermanni admitting belief is down in the squad ahead of Saturday morning’s friendly international against Switzerland in Zurich.

Sermanni had spoken to Kerr about being part of the current camp in a non-playing capacity to help lift spirits.

However, she has instead remained at her English club Chelsea to continue her injury recovery.

“There aren’t any real timelines on her coming back,” Sermanni said late on Thursday.

“The key thing that everyone has stressed, the Chelsea staff, the Chelsea medical people and own people is that it’s really important for Sam to take as long as it takes to make sure she comes back without cutting any corners, and that’s the process that she’s taken.

“At the moment, she’s in the midst of that and really having some important parts of her treatment, so at this stage, she won’t be joining us on this tour.

“What happens a bit later in the year, we’ll address at that time. (but) the key premise in all of this is getting Sam back on the football field as safely as possible, and to make sure that when she comes back, she’s going to come back for a long time.”

Rolling up for session ✌️

🇨🇭v🇦🇺 26.10.24 - 5:00am AEDT
🇩🇪v🇦🇺 29.10.24 - 4:10am AEDT
📺💻📱: @ParamountPlusAU#Matildaspic.twitter.com/bUB7oGdQ2q

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) October 24, 2024

Sermanni admitted the Matildas had arrived at their latest cam[ feeling “low”.

“The team was a bit beaten up after the outcome of the Olympics. There’s no point in denying that,” he said.

“The confidence within the group, within the squad, was a bit low, because obviously this team has got high expectations, but athletes are resilient.

“After a couple of days on the training field, with everybody back together again, from my perspective, it’s been very positive.

“We have to come back and bounce back after bad results.

“This team. ... they’re desperate to get back on a winning track. and all of that starts from the leaders and from the experienced players in this team.

“We’ve got a great bunch of professionals.”

Those experienced players include Arsenal star Steph Catley, who has captained the Matildas in Kerr’s absence.

However, after a disrupted start to the English Women’s Super League season due to soft tissue injuries, Catley is no certainty to start against the Swiss, or against Germany in Tuesday morning’s friendly in Duisburg.

“If it was a cup final tomorrow, then absolutely she’s be ready to go, but there’s a lot of things you have to balance out in selections,” Sermanni said.

“First and most important is Steph’s health. She has trained fully up to now, but she hasn’t had a lot of game time in the pre-season, and her season has been a little bit interrupted.

“Our first responsibility is towards the player, and we need to make sure as best we can that all of our players come through this camp healthy.

“We’ve also got a bit of a responsibility to the club that they’re going back to that we don’t send them back as damaged goods.

“Steph will certainly play in these two games, as of right now, but how much and when, I really don’t have that answer.”

Switzerland v Australia

Saturday, 5am (AEDT)

Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich