Veteran Matildas midfielder Emily van Egmond has rubbished calls for Sam Kerr to step down as captain ahead of the star striker’s return to the national team.
Kerr will attend Australia’s training camp in a non-playing capacity for their two-match friendly series against South Korea on home soil after addressing her recent UK court case with the Football Australia board.
The 31-year-old was not disciplined by FA, with the governing body finding the matter warranted no further action following her acquittal of causing racially aggravated harassment of a police officer in February.
Her English club, Chelsea, also concluded Kerr’s subsequent apologies warranted no further action.
Kerr had been charged after calling a police officer “f***ing stupid and white” late in an hour-long, drunken altercation at a Twickenham police station in the early hours of January 30, 2023.
She apologised after the court hearing “for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening”.
Matildas vice-captain van Egmond said Kerr had the support of teammates and did not expect her to hand over the armband to stand-in captain Steph Catley.
“No, she definitely should not be stepping down,” van Egmond said on Tuesday.
“The federation (FA) has come out and said what they need to say, and obviously Sammy had her side to say as well.
“As teammates and a team, we’re in full support for her.”
Kerr’s return to the Matildas is part of her rehabilitation from an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered during a Chelsea training camp in January last year.
Van Egmond, a long-time international teammate of Kerr, said her inclusion has only energised the squad ahead of Friday’s match at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
The pair have been playing alongside each other since 2008 in the Australian U17 squad.
Kerr’s first camp since the February court case will be under interim coach Tom Sermanni, who debuted Kerr as a 15-year-old in 2009.
“We obviously found out last minute (that Kerr would be joining camp), but it was a really nice surprise,” van Egmond said.
“Sammy has been such an important figure for this team for X amount of years now.
“The first thing is removing Sam Kerr the footballer from Sam Kerr the human being, and just making sure that she was OK.
“She’s just really happy to be here. It’s been so long.
Sam Kerr thanks the fans after Australia’s World Cup semi-final loss. (Photo by Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)
“She only helps the team in positive ways so for us, it’s really, really nice just to see her here again and be a part of the group.”
It’s hoped Kerr, not yet cleared to play for club or country, will return to face Argentina in Melbourne on May 30 and Canberra on June 2.
Meanwhile, Van Egmond sees Japan as the benchmark nation they must match to win the Asian Cup next year.
The Matildas suffered a 4-0 loss to Japan in the She Believes Cup in February before going down to the USA and Colombia to finish last on the ladder.
Japan’s performance was the opposite, finishing first after defeating the Matildas, Colombia and the USA scoring 10 goals in the process.
Japan’s dominance propelled them to fifth on the world rankings, while the Matildas slumped to 16th, their lowest in 20 years.
However, the Tillies eyes are on hosting the Women’s Asian Cup, a competition they haven’t won in 15 years.
This starts with two friendlies against South Korea, the team that knocked them out of the previous Asian Cup, on Friday in Sydney and Monday in Newcastle.
“Playing Japan in the first opening game was good to see the level now,” Van Egmond said.
“We’ve been exposed to three different oppositions, Japan, Colombia and the US. We’re looking to collect ourselves again and have a good performance.
“Especially going into an Asian Cup, if we can put our full focus into that game on Friday, there’s no reason why we can’t get the outcome that we want at the cup.”
The Matildas will take on their Asian rivals for the first time since the 87th-minute goal that denied them a third consecutive Asian Cup semi-final berth.
South Korea went on to finish as runners-up up, but since then have struggled to make an international impact, missing out on Olympic qualification after draws with China and North Korea last year.
Alanna Kennedy battles for the ball against the United States. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Although they are on a three-game winning run, they haven’t beaten a top-10 side since August 2015.
The Matildas also haven’t beaten a top-10 side since Germany in October, so Van Egmond isn’t looking at South Korea as an easily beatable nation.
“We know what they’re capable of. They’re a great team. They’re a technical team. So for us, it’s making sure we nullify what they put to us,” she said.
“It feels like years ago now. That was a heartbreak for us to concede in the last couple of minutes. It was not a nice feeling.”
Newshttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/04/01/should-not-be-stepping-down-australian-teammates-fully-behind-sam-kerr-as-matildas-turn-focus-to-asian-cup/‘Should not be stepping down’: Australian teammates fully behind Sam Kerr as Matildas turn focus to Asian Cup
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