BRISBANE (Reuters) – Australia sorely missed Sam Kerr’s leadership and finishing in their shock defeat by Nigeria but there is no guarantee the co-hosts’ skipper will be back to save their Women’s World Cup campaign against Canada.
A point behind leading Nigeria and Canada in Group B, Australia will likely need victory over the North Americans in their final match on Monday to stave off a disastrous exit and reach the knockout phase.
Striker Kerr, who also missed Australia’s opening win over eliminated Ireland, has been sidelined with a calf injury, and coach Tony Gustavsson offered little comfort for home fans pining for her return after the 3-2 loss to 40th-ranked Nigeria.
“Obviously it’s going to be the topic today that I’m most likely not to get a confirmation on that until the night before the (Canada) game,” the Swede told reporters.
“And then we’ll go from there.
“It might even be where we need to test her to see if she can play on game day and that’s how tight it is.”
Australia have long battled an over-reliance on Kerr but injuries to her team mates have compounded the problem.
Attacking midfielder Mary Fowler missed the Ireland game with concussion, while forward Kyah Simon has not played in the tournament while recovering from a long-term knee ligament injury.
Gustavsson put his faith in Emily van Egmond, who replaced Fowler in his starting team against Nigeria, and the midfielder struck the first goal just before halftime with a cross from Caitlin Foord.
But Gustavsson had few answers after Nigeria stormed into the lead, with central defender Alanna Kennedy’s second goal for Australia coming deep in stoppage time.
Australia fell 2-1 behind by the 65th minute and were 3-1 adrift seven minutes later courtesy of Asisat Oshoala’s strike.
However, Gustavsson waited until the 82nd minute to put his bench to work.
Replacing winger Cortnee Vine with centre back Clare Polkinghorne, he threw Kennedy forward and brought midfielder Alex Chidiac on a few minutes later.
The late moves came to nothing, and Australia too often gave up possession cheaply by firing long balls forward to where Kerr might have been able to do better with them.
Gustavsson said the team had trained with Kennedy as part of a “double nine” but conceded he may have waited too long to make the changes.
“It’s something I’m going to have to review afterwards,” he said.
“I thought we had a good momentum going.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
