The Dark Days Behind Our Triumph

On the eve of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Susan Chenery chats with Matildas’ star players, Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord, about grit, gratitude and rising from the pits of despair to make Australia proud.

Sam Kerr is widely considered the best female footballer in the world. Fast, athletic, audacious, dangerous on the attack, her technique and timing are dazzling. Those feet – those electrifying feet – as they whisk the ball out from under the boots of her opponents. The famous cartwheel and backflip – her customary show of exuberance after a particularly spectacular goal – something her mother says she taught herself at the age of 10 walking down a hill.

“I don’t know where it came from,” says Roxanne Kerr with a proud grin.

Playing for Perth Glory in the southern summer and the Chicago Red Stars in the winter, Sam is the all-time leading scorer in the US National Women’s Soccer League and the Australian W-League – the first player to score four goals in one game. But it was as captain of the Westfield Matildas that Sam and teammate Caitlin Foord, also known for her speed and power, spoke to The Weekly, as the duo prepared for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

And this time the Matildas intend to win. “Everything you do is for the World Cup,” says Sam. A team once seen as the underdog has become a serious contender. Since winning the 2017 Tournament of Nations, beating the US, Japan and even the mighty Brazil, the Matildas have become known for their fearless, entertaining, bold brand of football. And in 2019, for the first time, an Australian team is seeded at the World Cup.

“We’ve always known we’re a good team,” says Caitlin. “Australians love a winning sports team and, once we started getting the results, we made them fall in love with us. It was just a matter of time before everyone noticed.”