World Cup winner Abby Wambach says Kerr is the best

Matildas footballer Samantha Kerr has made the leap into mainstream sporting stardom.

Samantha Kerr celebrates a goal during the Matildas’ 6-1 thrashing of Brazil.

Sometimes it’s a little difficult to trust ourselves — what with patriotism getting in the way of good judgment — so it was left to American two-times World Cup-winner Abby Wambach to express the outrage of the soccer world when Australian Sam Kerr was overlooked for the World Player of the Year shortlist.

“Hey Sam Kerr, know this,” Wambach tweeted in September when the three finalists were announced. “I) you deserved to be in the top three. 2) be patient, the whole world will know your name. 3) you’re the best.”

It was a ringing endorsement of Kerr who in the past year has become not only the highest-profile player in the Matildas, the national women’s soccer team, but has made the leap — or in her case backflip — into mainstream sporting stardom.

The Australian public is delightedly coming to terms with this 24-year-old from Perth, but the feeling is that Wambach is right on the money.

Soon the world will know her name.

It may be that Australia’s low profile on the world stage has held Kerr back to now, although surely the events in July-August have at least partially addressed that problem.

The Matildas, with Kerr at the forefront, scored a historic first-ever victory over world No 1, the USA, at the Tournament of Nations in Seattle, followed up with a 4-2 win over Japan — where she scored a hat-trick and a celebratory backflip — and then sealed the deal with a 6-1 thrashing of the supposedly spiritual guardians of the game, Brazil.

Granted, the Brazilians looked anything but graceful guardians as they refused to shake hands with Kerr and others after being twice more beaten by the Matildas in Canberra and Newcastle.

But while that didn’t say much for them, it spoke volumes for the Australian team as it moved boldly to take its place on the world stage. Suddenly, Australia is starting to dream big ahead of the 2019 World Cup in France.

As with all women’s teams making their mark in major football codes, there are setbacks and missed opportunities. When Kerr scored a hat-trick for her W-League club, Perth Glory, in a recent fixture, there were no TV cameras to record her feat.

But times they are a’changing. And with players like Samantha Kerr, The Australian’s Australian of the Year nominee, leading the way, they can only get better.

We encourage readers to make a nomination for Australian of the Year, by filling out the coupon, sending an email or going to our website.