Steph Catley tells Sam Kerr to wear captain’s armband and ‘do your thing’ for the Matildas

Sam Kerr had her first minutes of the World Cup on Monday night and fill-in captain Steph Catley had something special for the star.

Steph Catley insisted Sam Kerr wear the captain’s armband despite the returning Matildas skipper not wanting to in her first appearance of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

After missing Australia’s three Group B matches with a calf injury she suffered on the eve of the tournament, Kerr finally enjoyed some game time in the Matildas’ 2-0 round-of-16 win over Denmark in Sydney on Monday night.

Left-back Catley had led the team in Kerr’s absence, but as soon as the Chelsea star was ready to come on in the 80th minute, there was no doubting in the acting captain’s mind who should be wearing the armband.

“She’s been incredible for us off the field, and I was very happy to hand it over to her,” Catley said.

“She was shaking her head and saying, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want it’, and I was like, ‘Please, this is yours, put it on, go do your thing’.

“It was a massive boost for us. The crowd were obviously ecstatic when she came on. I had never heard it that loud, other than when we scored, so it was a lovely moment, and we’re just happy to have her back.

“Seeing Sammy come back, it was massive for us, and it just put a massive smile on my face.”

Steph Catley (left) hands Sam Kerr the captain’s armband. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Kerr said it was a “nice gesture” by Catley to hand over the armband.

“She’s been smashing it,” Kerr said of the Arsenal and Matildas defender.

“She’s been leading the team, and … (for) the last 10 minutes, it doesn’t really matter.

“Steph’s a natural-born leader. Me and her share this role. I know most of the time I wear the captain’s armband, but in this tournament, she’s just shown she’s a born leader, and I didn’t think it needed to come to me, but it was a nice gesture by her.”

Kerr said it was a “relief to be back on the pitch”.

“Hopefully, this is the last time I ever have to talk about the calf,” she said.

“Every player in the squad has done so well. It’s tough coming home and having so much noise around you, but we’ve all stuck together, and they’ve all done great, so I’m really proud of them.”

The Matildas’ next match is a quarterfinal in Brisbane on Saturday night against the winner of Tuesday night’s round-of-16 battle between France and Morocco in Adelaide.

Catley said: “Every game so far in the tournament has been so unique and so different.

“Whoever we get in the next round is going to be a completely different challenge again, but … we can take confidence from the fact we’re scoring goals and keeping clean sheets as well.”