<
>

Kerr in doubt for semi against Sweden

Australia's Sam Kerr. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

Australia captain and star striker Sam Kerr is in doubt for the women's Olympic soccer semi-final against Sweden.

Kerr, who looked to be struggling late in the quarter-final extra-time win over Great Britain, has played every minute of the Matildas' campaign so far, as has Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Emily van Egmond and Tameka Yallop.

But the high of delivering one of Australia's greatest wins is yet to wear off and they side's adamant they can overcome niggles and fatigue and once again vanquish past demons when they face the Scandinavians for the second time this tournament.

A brace from inspirational skipper Kerr and a goalkeeping clinic from Teagan Micah secured a 4-3 upset quarter-final victory over the Brits on Friday night.

"The way Sam led the team ... even though she was in pain, it was one of those 'should she push through or should I take her off?'" Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said.

"We had communication throughout the game but (she stayed on) and then she also comes up and scores.

"The way she leads this group in the locker room, back in the hotel, on the buses, it's a huge reason why (we won) this game."

It was the Matildas' first knockout win at an Olympics or World Cup since 2015 and guaranteed they'll play off for a medal.

But on Monday they must face Sweden, the tournament's most impressive side so far who beat them 4-2 in last week's group stages.

The Australians haven't defeated their coach's home nation in 11 games stretching back 24 years.

"When you look at the rankings, obviously (Great Britain) was the second favourite in this tournament ... and obviously Sweden's ranked above us as well," Gustavsson said.

"But I think we've shown throughout this tournament that we believe in ourselves, and we stay loyal to who we are, whoever we play.

"So just believing in ourselves, go out and do our game plan and stick to that and play our game and hopefully it'll take us to the final."

Kerr also hailed Gustavsson, whose exuberant goal celebrations were a highlight, for giving the Matildas the belief to reach the final-four.

"We always kind of got to this point and (have) fallen at the last hurdle," she said.

"When (Gustavsson) first joined, that's what a lot of us said to him, 'we've got to this point and fallen and we just want to get there and give ourselves an opportunity to win a medal because we really believe that we can - but we've just not been able to get over that hurdle'.

"He's really instilled that belief that we can do it and we can beat any team - and playing the way we want to play."