Sarina Wiegman has warned England cannot focus solely on Australia captain Sam Kerr ahead of their Women’s World Cup semi-final with Australia.
The Chelsea forward sustained a calf injury on the eve of the tournament but has returned to fitness and said she is “ready to go” against the Lionesses in Sydney.
Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson confirmed this morning that Kerr is available and he will make a decision tonight on whether she starts, following a meeting with medical staff.
Kerr is the poster girl of the World Cup, while she was the scourge of England when Australia won 2-0 at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium in April. That defeat remains the only time the Lionesses have lost under Wiegman since she was appointed in August 2020.
But Wiegman said on Tuesday morning: “Australia is not just Sam Kerr.
“Of course she is a threat, she is a very good player, so a lot of respect [to her]. But there is more than Sam Kerr, because at the end it is always a team performance.
“When the team does really well an individual can do even better. That is the same for Australia and it is the same for England.
“We have a plan [if she starts]. She can play and she can start on the bench, so that is the situation. There is a lot of pressure on her because everyone expects things from her.
“Australia have grown in the tournament too, they had some difficult situations they had to come back from and they did really well. We expect a very strong Australia tomorrow.”
Kerr missed the group stage but made a 10-minute cameo off the bench in the last-16 and then played 65 minutes in their quarter-final shootout win over France. Gustavsson has hinted the 29-year-old will start on the bench after he stressed the importance of thinking about his “best finishing XI”.
“Sam pushed through more minutes than we hoped for [against France], to be honest,” he said.
“One of the reasons why we kept her on the bench is we were not certain how many minutes she had, from that calf injury but also the limited training minutes she had. The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive, both the mental and physical aspects.”
England are bidding to reach the World Cup Final for the first time, having suffered semi-finals heartbreak in 2015 and 2019.
Tomorrow’s game at Stadium Australia is sold out and a crowd of more than 75,000 is expected. There are set to be only 8,000 England fans but Lionesses captain Millie Bright believes the players will relish the atmosphere.
“I think for us it is about turning up, showing up. Enjoying the game too — it is important that we enjoy it,” she said. “In terms of the crowd, we are just super excited to play in front of a full stadium. With the women’s game, that is what we want and that is what we expect now at these big tournaments, especially in the semi-finals. For us, we thrive in those moments.
“There is pressure every day. I think the pressure starts from the very first game, not just the semis, but for us we live in that moment.
“We know as an England team, there is always pressure and it is something that you embrace and deal with and for us it is staying focused, staying on task and sticking to the game plan.
“And we have experienced moments like this tense environment, big stages, big crowds. We thrive in those moments and it gives us energy.”
