THE POSTER GIRL from the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 didn’t think she was capable of being starstruck… until she came face-to-face with the poster girl of the 2000 Olympic Games.
During the last press conference before Australia’s opening game, Sam Kerr told reporters how special it was to have Cathy Freeman visit the squad last week.
“Obviously Cathy is an amazing person and athlete in this country. For me, I don’t really get starstruck but when Cathy walked in there, I was pretty starstruck because she has such a presence,” she said of the 400m Olympic champion and torchbearer who was the face of the Sydney Games 23 years ago.
“It was just honestly such a relaxing night. There was nothing special about it other than the fact that Cathy came to talk to us because she made us feel like we have known her for years.
“That’s just the kind of person she is so we honestly just sat in a room, chatted and had dinner. But, you know, what she said to us and what she spoke to us about will stick with us forever.”
The media briefing was held shortly after the Australian squad took part in a pitch and stadium familiarisation process – something that was also offered to their Irish opponents.
Targeting Irish players
Asked whether the Matildas could be frustrated by Ireland’s defensive system, the Chelsea star said her team will concentrate on themselves.
“I think we play our game. We’ve watched some of their previous games with their videos but it’s about us tomorrow. We need to make sure that we’re on top of our game.
“Obviously every team brings new challenges, but it’s about us tomorrow.
If we play our game, if we play our way, we just adapt to what comes at us.
“And, obviously, we have a lot of respect for Ireland – they’ve had some good results lately. So we have to be really respectful of that but, at the same time, it’s about us tomorrow.”
Coach Tony Gustavsson, however, was more candid about his thinking on the specifics of the opposition.
When asked for his starting team, he told the probing Australian journalists that not only do they know their starting 11, they also have plans for their inmatch changes and their finishing 11.
“We have an idea of what we think this game is going to look like,” he explained.
“If you look at the games that Ireland played against top teams, it’s no coincidence that they have been really, really strong in the beginning of both the first and second half.
“But there’s also no coincidence that they have conceived goals late in the halves – especially when it comes to some of the tactics on one or two players and one or two behaviours that we have identified that we hope we can strike against tomorrow. I’m not going to say what but there’s a trend there to target.”
Sold-out
Tomorrow’s game is sold out with at least 75,000 people expected at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
Kerr believes the crowd-size, which is beyond what most of the players will have experienced previously, will be a factor in the game but not one she’s overly worried about.
“For me, I’m really excited. I love playing in front of packed stadiums. But, I think, as a team that it’s going to go up and down,” she said.
“We just have to live in the moment… we spoke about it briefly today.
It’s ok to feel nervous or ok to get overawed by the crowd because that’s life, that’s football.
“I think everyone’s more looking forward to it than nervous about the crowd. Everyone knows they’re on our side, so it’s nice when you know they’re going to be cheerings you on rather than booing you.”
It is not clear how many Irish fans will be in the stadium, but indiciations in Sydney are that there will be a significant percentage of the crowd cheering the girls in green.