Matildas drama escalates as goalkeeper ruled out of Asian Cup squad hours before first game

Matildas captain Sam Kerr said she is not 100 per cent as Australian boss Joe Montemurro manages several injury headaches ahead of Sunday night’s Asian Cup opener against the Philippines at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

Montemurro is keeping his card close to his chest, not revealing the make-up of the starting XI as coach and captain spoke the media side-by-side on Saturday.

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There has been some doubt about who will start in goal.

World Cup penalty shootout hero Mackenzie Arnold appeared to be a lock to don the gloves after fellow goalkeeper Tegan Micah withdrew from the squad last week with concussion issues.

But Arnold did not train with Matildas squad until match eve, opening the door for one of the inexperienced options of Chloe Lincoln or Morgan Aquino. DC Power’s Aquino was only officially announced as a replacement for the injured Jada Whyman (knee) on Sunday, with the AIK custodian departing the squad list hours before the opening match.

Arnold’s absence from training during the week added her to a list of key players who are all in doubt for various reasons including Kerr, Mary Fowler and Kyra Cooney-Cross.

“There’s no decisions made yet for anyone playing, so I’m still deciding what my starting 11 is going to be,” Montemurro said.

“We’ve got it in control with our medical staff and we’ll make some decisions in the next 24 hours.”

Last weekend, Fowler made her first start for Manchester City since coming back from an ACL injury sustained last April, but needs to be managed.

While Cooney-Cross has had an interrupted lead-in to the tournament as the Arsenal midfielder returned home to Australia in January to spend time with her mother who is battling cancer.

Kerr, meanwhile, shared that she is not yet back to her former self.

“When I came back from the ACL with Chelsea at the start of the season, I felt really good, and then I probably had a little bit of a dip,” she said.

“When you’re out for so long, you have all this self-doubt creep in. But I’ve had so many amazing people around me, and I feel right at home with the Matildas. So it’s a good place for me to just settle back in and be myself.

“I’m probably 85 per cent and above. I don’t want to say I’m at 100 per cent yet. I haven’t had one of those games yet where I felt completely myself, but I think about 85 per cent and above.”

Kerr is the last remaining squad member from the victorious 2010 Asian Cup team.

The 32-year-old played that tournament in China when she could have easily been back home in Perth attending high school.

How different life is now compared to then is not lost on the Matildas skipper.

Not only is she now a global superstar of the sport, but the popularity and expectation surrounding the team has gone through the roof.

“Going in as a dark horse [in 2010], helped us,” Kerr said.

“And now with the pressure that the Matildas carry, we’ve tried to not talk about winning. Just talk about one game at a time. That’s what we did in 2010.

“I know how much everyone wants to win this tournament, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. There are a lot of great teams in our path.”

The Matildas also face South Korea and Iran in Group A with the top two plus the top best third place finishers from the three groups to advance to the quarter-finals.

Making it to the final eight also qualifies a nation for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

But after the semi-final run at the World Cup on home soil that captivated the nation three years ago, reaching the quarter-final is the bare minimum expectation for this team.

Despite recent struggles in the form of being knocked out in the group stage at the Paris Olympics as well as being soundly beaten by Japan, the USA and Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup last year, Kerr is not shying away from the Australian public’s big hopes this tournament.

“I know how much this team wants to win something together, I know how much every player wants to win something for the Matildas,” Kerr said.

“Every year I play in the Matilda’s, the team is getting better,” she added.

“They’re last tournament didn’t go the way I wanted, personally, but on a team level it was an amazing tournament.

“I feel like I am really lucky to be here again on home soil, most people in their career don’t even get to play one tournament at home.

“The fact that we get two opportunities is an incredible honour.”

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