- Kerr lashed out at his rival country after the 2023 World Cup
- It included a big laugh at his partner’s expense.
- That nation could have the final say at the Olympics
Sam Kerr’s words have come back to haunt her after the injured Matildas captain lashed out at the US soccer team for the same reason Australia were thrashed by Germany at the Paris Olympics.
The Matildas were the star of Australian sport in 2023 after finishing a close fourth at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, beating some powerful soccer nations.
After the tournament, the Tillies were excited and Kerr could make comments that would later come back to haunt her and the team.
The comments appeared in the ill-fated Netflix documentary series ‘Under Pressure: The US Women’s World Cup Team.’
It was supposed to be a behind-the-veil look at the plucky U.S. soccer team’s run to the World Cup title, however, the women’s soccer giants found themselves ignominiously eliminated in the group stage.
The documentary series was released anyway, and Kerr took the opportunity to cause even more misery for the American team by using the sled with her own teammate Kristie Mewis.
“Did you know you’ve conceded eight goals this year, four of them from set pieces?” Kerr asks.
—Yes, I know —Mewis answers.
“The corners, to be exact,” Kerr clarifies.
“That’s horrible, half of your goals are from corners. Don’t you work on that?”
The attack left Mewis stunned at the time.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It has nothing to do with you!” Kerr said afterwards.
‘You were at the first post, if you had jumped a bit higher you wouldn’t have reached the centre of the goal. I’m joking, it had nothing to do with you.’
Sam Kerr brought his partner Kristie Mewis and the US soccer team to Netflix in a documentary series
Mewis was not impressed with Kerr’s comments at the time, but the United States could have the final say.
Mewis remained in disbelief as her relative Pat laughed: “That was an attack, that was cruel.”
While Kerr was laughing at the time, no one in the Matildas camp was making jokes after being beaten 3-0 by Germany.
Two of those goals came from corners, giving Team USA plenty of ammunition ahead of their next matchup at the Olympics.
The defeat was a case of déjà vu for coach Tony Gustavsson, who presided over a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Germany in his first game in charge of the Matildas.
“Congratulations to Germany, they were a class better than us tonight, that’s just a fact,” Gustavsson said.
“We have to be very honest about it, and I told the players that as well. You can clearly see that they are up to the task of international football.
“We did everything we could to try to prepare so it wouldn’t be a big surprise, but I don’t think we were ready for it.”
Former Socceroo and football analyst Craig Foster said the damage could have been even worse had it not been for the efforts of a Matildas star.
“If it wasn’t for the incredible Katrina Gorry making tackle after tackle in the first half, we could have been in more trouble,” he said.
The Matildas will be hoping to have experienced midfielder Tameka Yallop back for the games against Zambia and the United States after she was ruled out of the Germany clash through injury.
The 33-year-old veteran was ruled out at the last minute after two contact injuries she suffered in early July.
She is expected to be fit to return to the 18-player squad for the Matildas’ next match against Zambia in Nice on Sunday.