Matildas urge Kerr to be patient as team ends 2024 with 6-0 win; Interim boss Sermanni happy to remain

Sam Kerr won’t be back on the field until a few months into 2025 and that suits Matildas veteran Tameka Yallop who has urged her long-time teammate to take her time in recovery.

Kerr’s club Chelsea revealed she wasn’t expected to return to training until February as she continues to recover from her knee reconstruction.

Sam KerrCredit: Getty

Yallop was among the scorers as the Matildas finished 2024 with a 6-0 win over Taiwan in front of 30,097 fans in Geelong on Saturday night where she was asked about Kerr.

“It’s always very individualised coming back from a major injury like that,” Yallop said of Kerr.

“Everyone feels for Sam and we are all right there supporting her with her recovery and it’s important for her to be 100 per cent before she comes back.

“We want her for the long term, not the short term. We are supporting her through it and she remains a major part of the team.”

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When Tom Sermanni gave a teenage Clare Polkinghorne her debut with the Matildas in 2007, he never expected he would also be in charge for her final game.

But Sermanni found himself in exactly that position on Saturday night as he handed Polkinghorne a final start in the team and then subbed her off for a curtain call just after the hour mark ending a record-setting 169 game, 18-year national team career.

Matildas defender Clare Polkinghorne waves goodbye after her final game.Credit: AP

As someone who is always quick to make a joke, Sermanni had some poignant but funny words as he embraced the veteran defender after she left the field.

“I just said can you believe we are both here?” Sermanni said with a laugh.

“I mean who would have thought this 18 years ago? Suddenly its back to that stage again.

“Polks takes all these things in her stride and would have happily exited stage left without any fanfare but it is a special moment and when you look back at anyone’s career, it is about experiences and the people and that’s the special thing about Clare and things around the team.”

Every day in the Matildas job is a good one for Tom Sermanni and the veteran coach continues to be content in the interim role.

Football Australia continues to look for who will lead the team in the long-term and Sermanni, who has been in the role since September, said he was loving the chance to lead the team and would be ready if they want him for February’s SheBelieves Cup in the United States.

Matildas interim coach Tom Sermanni.Credit: Getty Images

If not, he will still be a fan of the side.

“I don’t know. I’m still here and I haven’t been tapped on the shoulder yet,” Sermanni said with a laugh.

“I never dreamed I would be sitting here again doing this job…however long it lasts, I will just keep going in and doing my job and if this is the last game then, so be it. I’ll just then become a supporter in the stands.

“If the FA want me to continue or need me to continue, I will continue. And when or if I do that, I’ll just continue to do the job as if I’ve come in as a coach to do the job.

“It’s quite simple for me, really.”

Sam Kerr won’t be back on the field until a few months into 2025 and that suits Matildas veteran Tameka Yallop who has urged her long-time teammate to take her time in recovery.

Kerr’s club Chelsea revealed she wasn’t expected to return to training until February as she continues to recover from her knee reconstruction.

Sam KerrCredit: Getty

Yallop was among the scorers as the Matildas finished 2024 with a 6-0 win over Taiwan in front of 30,097 fans in Geelong on Saturday night where she was asked about Kerr.

“It’s always very individualised coming back from a major injury like that,” Yallop said of Kerr.

“Everyone feels for Sam and we are all right there supporting her with her recovery and it’s important for her to be 100 per cent before she comes back.

“We want her for the long term, not the short term. We are supporting her through it and she remains a major part of the team.”

Of the many changes the Matildas have experienced since they became national darlings during last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia, one thing has stood out to midfielder Tameka Yallop.

The growing number of diehard fans.

The Matildas ran out for warmups in Geelong on Saturday night.Credit: Getty Images

The Matildas drew another bumper crowd of 30,097 to Geelong on Saturday capping off four home games to end 2024 and that support is just one of the legacies from hosting the world cup.

“As a player, it’s absolutely amazing,” Yallop said.

“I think it’s been amazing for football here in Australia, not just for the women’s game but for the men as well.

“Then on a broader spectrum women’s sport in Australia has benefited from it as well.

“We’re getting a lot more die hard fans now and that’s absolutely amazing to see and it only pushes us to, to play better and to want to get better as well.”

Matildas midfielder Tameka Yallop has praised the stable environment interim coach Tom Sermanni has provided since taking charge at the back end of the year.

Football Australia are still on the hunt for their next coach with Sermanni happy to remain in the role for as long as he is needed.

Tameka Yallop scores against Taiwan.Credit: Getty Images

The Matildas finished 2024 with a 6-0 win over Taiwan in front of 30,097 fans in Geelong on Saturday night and Yallop said she and the team refused to look too far ahead.

They will next join up for the high-profile SheBelieves Cup in America in February and it remains unclear who will coach them in the first of six windows before Australia hosts the Asia Cup in 2026.

“I’m not one to look too far ahead,” Yallop said after a player of the match performance.

“We just maintain and focus on where we are and keep up a high standard within the playing group.

“I think Tommy does a great job in keeping the environment stable for us. So we are just letting FA do that side of things and are keeping each other accountable.”

The Matildas have ended the year with another bumper crowd and a 6-0 win over Taiwan in front of 30,097 fans at GMHBA Stadium, Geelong.

The national team led 3-0 at the break and added three more goals in the second half while also rotating out several of the veteran players led by record-holder Clare Polkinghorne who played her 169th and last game before retirement.

Defender Tash Prior scored her second goal in two games while Lisa Davidson, Emily Gielnik, Sharn Freier, Tameka Yallop and Michelle Heyman scored the goals.

Tash Prior of the Matildas celebrates a goal with her teammates.Credit: Getty Images

The Matildas are running up the score now with Freier running into a long pass and smashing home her third national team goal for the year.

Freier continues to look a promising attacking option for the Matildas.

AUS 6, TAI 0 after 79 minutes.

The Matildas just continue to bring fans through the turnstiles with tonight’s crowd at Geelong 30,097 fans.

That is an exceptional return for a game against a smaller football nation and with many of the elite overseas players not playing.

Victorian fans have shown over these two games that they will turn out in force for the women’s national team.

Defender Tash Prior has scored her second goal in two games powering home a header.

She towers over the Taiwan players and has made the most of it in these two games.

AUS 5, TAI 0 after 74 minutes.