Sam Kerr in a race against time, just like David Beckham

Sam Kerr’s calf injury may take up to six weeks to heal. That would spell the end of the World Cup for the Matildas captain.

Sam Kerr and her injured calf, below, arrives at Sydney Airport on Friday heading to Brisbane for the Matildas’ second game in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Picture: David Swift

Two weeks? Three weeks? Six weeks? Nobody knows. Not even Sam Kerr. Best-case scenario? She’ll still feature at the World Cup. Worst-case? Cinderella won’t put a foot to the ball.

Kerr’s calf has become David Beckham’s foot … if you know what I mean. The England captain broke a metatarsal before the 2002 World Cup and it was all anyone was talking about over their tea and two slices. Now we’ll be watching every step Kerr takes and every move she makes for the foreseeable future. More news as it comes to hand.

In one of the great front pages, The Sun in London ran a full-page photograph of Beckham’s foot at the height of his plight. That was it. Just one life-size foot on the front page, toenails needing a clip, tufts of hair here and there, nothing you really wanted to see over breakfast. The close-up of the toes-up was accompanied by the words, “Beck Us Pray. Lay your hands on David’s foot at noon and make it better.”

David Beckham begins his recovery process after breaking a metatarsal bone in his left foot. Picture: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images

The 2002 front page of The Sun.

Worked a treat. Beckham recovered in time for the Cup, but not even he could prevent the poor old Poms from bowing out to Brazil in the quarter-finals.

Kerr is to the Matildas what Beckham was to The Three Lions. Everything. The heart and soul, the difference between winning and losing. Not sure if the editor has run a full-page photo of her strained calf muscle here but, if so, lay your hands on it at noon.

The Matildas medical staff are about to earn their money. All Kerr can do is around-the-clock physio. Renowned sports doctor Peter Larkin says calf injuries are “absolutely” serious.

Time frame for a recovery? “Three to six weeks on average.”

Kerr doesn’t have that long. The World Cup goes for four. Let us pray. It would surprise no one if she’s wiped out. Calves can be calamitous. The Matildas will keep all cards hidden. Coach Tony Gustavsson will reveal nothing.

Asked on Wednesday for an injury update, when Kerr had already been omitted from his team, Gustavsson told reporters: “I can’t at this time give away too much. I keep it close to my chest.”

Kerr was sitting next to him, stony-faced with her secret. Bravo for their poker faces but the lesson was learned. Treat updates with caution.

“I want to ask for some understanding on that, considering it’s a World Cup,” Gustavsson said of hiding the truth about Kerr to keep the information from the Irish side, adding it was “obviously devastating”.

Well may we say God save the Queen, or King, because nothing will save the Matildas without Kerr. Their committed yet messy 1-0 win over Ireland suggested they cannot win the World Cup sans the skipper. You cannot blame them for being disjointed. Their backbone was out. And you cannot be surprised by the lessened aura of belief and fearlessness. Their spiritual leader had vanished. The team’s Ferrari was parked in the garage.

“I think it was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of my career,” stand-in captain Steph Catley said after a match that attracted a whopping TV audience in Australia of 4.88 million. “She means so much to this team. So to have her go down a day before a moment like this was pretty awful. But I think as a team it added something to us. It added a fire, it added a little bit of extra fight. Everyone looked at it and said ‘Well, I’ve got to step up now because we don’t have Sam’.

“We spoke about that and we did that really well. We’ll do everything we can to get as far as we can, and hopefully we see Sam Kerr later on.”

Sam Kerr’s calf in a compression bandage. Picture: David Swift

Hopefully’s the key word. Zero certainty. NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell was expected to be sidelined for two weeks by a calf injury this season. He’s been unsighted for two months. How bad is Kerr’s injury? She walked through Brisbane airport on Friday without needing a fireman’s carry, so there’s a start. Her left leg had a compression bandage. Beckham was able to put his best foot forward for England but if you expect Kerr to be as fortunate with her calf, you might be having a laugh. Let us pray at 12 o’clock. High noon has come early for the Matildas.