By Emma Kemp
Sam Kerr has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, in a devastating blow to the Matildas captain and the national team’s Olympic hopes.
The Chelsea forward and 2023 Ballon d’Or runner-up sustained the long-term injury during the Women’s Super League leaders’ warm weather training camp in Morocco, the club confirmed in the early hours of Monday morning.
Sam Kerr has ruptured her ACL during a Chelsea training camp.Credit: Getty Images
She is the latest in a long list of top female footballers to have suffered the serious and long-term injury, which has also recently consigned Matildas teammates Ellie Carpenter and Kyah Simon to long lay-offs.
The 30-year-old, who has scored 99 goals in 128 games for Chelsea, will be assessed by a specialist in the coming days before beginning a lengthy period of rehabilitation under the guidance of club medical staff.
There was no timeframe for her return to football, though she will miss at least the remainder of the WSL season and UEFA Champions League.
She will also miss Australia’s two-legged Olympic qualifying play-offs against Uzbekistan, away on February 24 and at home at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on February 28.
The recovery time for footballers with an ACL rupture varies but is generally at least eight months, and can be up to 12 months if the injury involves other complications.
Depending on her prognosis, it appears likely she would be sidelined for any Paris 2024 Olympics campaign, which would start from July 24.
It constitutes yet another setback for Kerr, who has just spent months recovering from two calf issues which kept her out of a substantial part of Australia’s 2023 World Cup semi-final run and a chunk of club action thereafter.
“Considering how hard Sam has worked over the past six months to return to play, this news is a devastating blow for everyone,” Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said in a statement.
“With her ability to lead by example, Sam’s guidance and influence on the team is significant and, as a result, this will be an incredible loss for the national team.
“Our focus now is on ensuring she has all the support she wants and needs to navigate recovery and rehab.”
Kerr is out of contract with Chelsea at the end of the current season, having signed for the Blues as a free agent in December 2019 and scored 99 goals in 128 games.
Research has found female athletes are at greater risk – up to six times higher – than their male counterparts of rupturing their ACL, which has prompted calls for more studies into why.
England’s Beth Mead and Leah Williamson, Vivianne Miedema of the Netherlands and France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto were among a string of stars to miss the World Cup, while Spain’s Alexia Putellas had only just returned to playing and is still to regain her Ballon d’Or-winning form.
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