Matildas coach calls for Sam Kerr to join camp ahead of friendlies to launch new era

Matildas captain Sam Kerr is still on the road to recovery from a torn ACL but interim coach Tom Sermanni wants to bring the injured striker back into the team camp ahead of friendlies against Switzerland and Germany. Rising star Daniela Galic is among the 23 players called into Sermanni’s first squad since taking the reins of the Matildas for a third time, but pacey winger Cortnee Vine will miss the matches against Switzerland in Zurich on 25 October and Germany in Duisburg on 28 October (local time).

Sermanni, who handed Kerr her national debut as a 15-year-old in 2009 during his first spell in charge of Australia, is in talks to have the star join up with the squad for the first time since she sustained a serious knee injury earlier this year. Kerr has not played since rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament in January and missed Australia’s disappointing Olympic campaign as well as the second half of her WSL club Chelsea’s 2023-24 season.

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“I did have a good conversation with Sam,” Sermanni said. “She’s still recovering from her injury and is quite rightly taking time to recover from this injury. At her age and her stage in her career it’s really, really important that she doesn’t try to cut corners and come back too quickly.

“I have spoken to her about coming into camp for these games we’ve got in Europe, we’re still having that conversation. Some players will walk across hot coals to come into camp regardless of their condition, some who are injured often don’t like to be in the team environment.”

Kerr is not expected to return to the field until later this year or early 2025 but could give the national squad a huge boost as they start a new era after an early exit at Paris 2024 led to Football Australia parting ways with coach Tony Gustavsson. Sermanni backed the 31-year-old striker to give the team a lift even from the sidelines, saying, “just her presence in the camp’s great”.

“It’s always good to have someone of that calibre and someone who’s now a really mature player and a leader in the team,” Sermanni said. “So having those players present around the camp is always a big bonus.”

Galic has been named in a Matildas squad for the first time after impressing in her first season with FC Twente. The 18-year-old has one goal from five matches for the Dutch club since making the move from Melbourne City where she earned the A-League Women’s young player of the year award last season.

But Women’s World Cup penalty shootout hero Vine has been left out of the squad due to personal reasons, after also making herself unavailable for the Olympic qualifiers against Uzbekistan in February. Vine moved from Sydney FC to North Carolina Courage ahead of the NWSL season but has only made three appearances and scored one goal for her new club.

“I’ve had a really good conversation with Cortnee,” Sermanni said. “She’s just recently gone over to the NWSL in America, and just wants a little bit more time to settle into that environment and to make sure that when she comes back into the Matildas environment, she’s fully ready and fully focused to do so.”

Steph Catley has been named as captain despite an injury-riddled start to her WSL season, with familiar faces Mary Fowler, Ellie Carpenter, Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross and first-choice goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold also selected. The squad is mostly filled with experienced players based in Europe, with only four current A-League Women players selected. More Australia-based players are expected to be involved in matches against Brazil and Taiwan on home soil across November and December.

Sermanni will meet with the squad for the first time since taking charge in September, while FA is still searching for a permanent coach to lead the women’s national team ahead of the Asian Cup 2026 on home turf. The 70-year-old previously led the Matildas to the Asian Cup title in 2010, and has promised to encourage a “dynamic, attacking type of football” this time amid a more pragmatic approach.

Matildas squad: goalkeepers: Mackenzie Arnold, Chloe Lincoln, Jada Whyman; defenders: Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley (capt), Charli Grant, Winonah Heatley, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Courtney Nevin, Clare Polkinghorne; midfielders: Kyra Cooney-Cross, Daniela Galic, Katrina Gorry, Emily van Egmond, Clare Wheeler, Tameka Yallop; forwards: Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Sharn Freier, Michelle Heyman, Hayley Raso, Kaitlyn Torpey

• Australia play Switzerland in Zurich with kick-off 5am on 26 October (AEDT) and then face Germany starting at 4.10am on 29 October (AEDT).