The Asian Cup last year didn’t go to plan for the Matildas, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals despite expectations – both inside and outside the team – that they’d win the whole thing. But it did allow Sam Kerr to carve out a piece of Australian football history.
Kerr became Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer last January, with her five-goal haul against Indonesia in the Asian Cup group stage taking her past Socceroos legend Tim Cahill’s previous record of 50.
Sam Kerr is the star of the new six-part Disney+ documentary about the Matildas.Credit: Disney+
She doesn’t much care for individual accolades. But she does care about the way women’s sport is perceived – and as a new documentary shows, she isn’t afraid to speak up if she feels slighted or belittled. Not because of her own ego, but because of the message it might send to younger girls.
In the Disney+ series Matildas: The World at Our Feet, to be released on Wednesday, Kerr is shown taking issue with a headline in The Daily Telegraph in which her tally was labelled “not equal” to Cahill’s.
“Imagine little girls reading that,” an incredulous Kerr said, after raising the News Corp outlet’s front-page pointer during the Asian Cup with the Matildas’ team media officer.
“I cannot believe, in this day and age, that someone could write this, and have young girls read it, and that the Telegraph would actually publish such a sexist comment on the front page.
“It’s not about me … Imagine a young girl growing up going, ‘Oh, no matter what I do …’ Anyways.”
The headline was for a column by former Socceroo Robbie Slater, who wrote that Kerr and Cahill’s records should not be compared, that to do so would “overshadow” the latter’s achievement, and that they should be celebrated separately.
But Kerr’s reaction – and the rest of the series – shows just how seriously she and the Matildas take their status as role models for aspiring female athletes, and the opportunity that lies ahead at their home World Cup, which kicks off in three months.
“When I grew up, I didn’t even know who the Matildas were. It just wasn’t on the TV, and all my [sporting] role models were men,” defender Steph Catley said.
‘I just want to win a major tournament with the national team. It’s the only thing missing in my life right now.’
Sam Kerr
“If anyone asks me, ‘Who was your female sporting idol growing up?’ I can’t answer it because I didn’t have [one]. So that’s the main thing now – inspiring that next generation and showing girls that they can do whatever they want to do.”
The six-part documentary takes viewers behind the scenes during a crucial year in the Matildas’ World Cup preparations, between their friendlies in Australia against four-time winners the US at the end of 2021, and their 4-0 win over Sweden in November, which formed part of a seven-match unbeaten streak that only recently ended.
Since then, the Matildas have given fans reason to hope they can go all the way on home soil after last week’s shock 2-0 win over England, the reigning European champions who are among the World Cup favourites.
The documentary series is released on April 26.Credit: Disney+
Kerr is, naturally, the star of the show. The 29-year-old has a frosty relationship with some parts of the Australian media and rarely gives one-on-one interviews, so the documentary provides the best insight for some time into her mentality, her day-to-day life as a Chelsea player, and her broader aspirations with the Matildas.
“I just want to win a major tournament with the national team,” Kerr said. “It’s the only thing missing in my life right now … if we win the World Cup, that would just be everything. I wouldn’t feel for a very long time that I needed anything to fulfil me.”
Kerr lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Richmond – the same pocket of south-west London where the fictional team in Ted Lasso is based – and spoke of how she often struggles to escape the pressure of being expected to constantly score goals for club and country.
She apologised to her teammates for failing to score in the 1-0 Asian Cup quarter-final defeat to South Korea.
“When I miss a really big chance in a really big game, I do think about it,” she said.
“I feel really guilty, and I put a lot of blame on myself. Those are the moments that normally make me who I am as a player. I hate losing more than I like winning.
“I’m viewed as one of the best players in the world, but I go to training every day and think there’s players there that are much better than me that aren’t recognised. I don’t know – I don’t think of myself as one of the best players in the world. I don’t think any Australian would say that.”
Other revelations include an amusing insight into midfielder Katrina Gorry’s phone contacts system – coach Tony Gustavsson is saved as “Tony matildas” – and that Catley is secretly a Liverpool supporter. The Arsenal defender’s cover was blown by her fiance Dean Bouzanis, a former A-League player who moved to England and played non-league football to support her career.
“You just outed me there. I play for Arsenal!” she laughed.
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