{"id":201892,"date":"2025-10-10T02:40:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T02:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/201892\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T02:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T02:40:07","slug":"matildas-confirm-return-of-sam-kerr-to-squad-for-england-and-wales-friendlies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/201892\/","title":{"rendered":"Matildas confirm return of Sam Kerr to squad for England and Wales friendlies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Kerr is back in the Matildas squad for the first time since late 2023, ahead of friendlies against Wales and England.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cortnee Vine and Katrina Gorry also feature in a 24-player squad announced on Friday.<\/p>\n

Kerr last played for Australia in November 2023, then endured a horror rehabilitation from an ACL tear suffered at a Chelsea training camp in January 2024.<\/p>\n

The superstar striker returned for the Blues last month, scoring her 100th goal for the club in her first game back.<\/p>\n

Sam Kerr back in Champions League<\/a><\/p>\n

Australian striker Sam Kerr makes another appearance for Chelsea off the bench, getting 23 minutes of playing time but unable to break a 1-1 deadlock with their Dutch opponent.<\/p>\n

“Having Sam back in the squad is a special moment \u2014 not just for the team, but for Australian football,” Matildas coach Joe Montemurro said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Her leadership and presence are invaluable as we continue building toward the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 and beyond.”<\/p>\n

Vine, the penalty shootout hero for Australia at the World Cup, is in the national squad for the first time since the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

A mental health break, injuries and a difficult start to life in the NWSL with North Carolina Courage had kept her out of the Matildas.<\/p>\n

Gorry is due to play for the first time under Montemurro, after missing his first window through personal leave.<\/p>\n

“The squad showcases the depth we are looking to build, by utilising experienced players who continue to set high standards alongside the next generation of Matildas players,” Montemurro said.<\/p>\n

“It will be Australia’s first time competing against Wales and there is a competitive history with England, so both games will provide different challenges to test the team, our playing style and the way we play together.”<\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n

Australia will play Wales at Cardiff City Stadium on October 25 (local time) and England at Derby’s Pride Park three days later.<\/p>\n

Kerr, 32, has been on limited minutes at Chelsea and is likely to be gradually introduced in those games.<\/p>\n

She previously joined Matildas camps in a non-playing capacity as part of her rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

It is unclear whether Kerr will retain the captaincy, with Steph Catley donning the armband during her absence with aplomb.<\/p>\n

Forward Mary Fowler (ACL) and midfielder Tameka Yallop (hamstring) remain unavailable.<\/p>\n

AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Kerr is back in the Matildas squad for the first time since late 2023, ahead of friendlies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5844,64,63,43873,44964,44965,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-201892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-abc-sport","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-friendlies","12":"tag-matildas","13":"tag-sam-kerr","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}