Matildas coach Joe Montemurro joked about a radical role change for one of his star players ahead of the host nation’s Asian Cup quarter-final against North Korea in Perth on Friday night.
Australia will be without Hayley Raso and Steph Catley as the experienced pair are both sidelined with concussion.
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“They’re tracking well. They were very close, but they won’t be included in the squad tomorrow,” Montemurro told reporters on Thursday.
Arsenal gun Catley’s absence leaves a glaring hole in the Matildas defence and when asked on match eve how to cover her loss, Montemurro provided a light-hearted response.
“Sam Kerr is playing at left-back,” Montemurro said as he grinned at the national team captain who was sitting next to him.
Catley sustained the concussion in the 3-3 draw with South Korea in Sydney to wrap up the group stage.
Courtney Nevin was brought off the bench to fill void, and despite struggling, the 24-year-old has been backed to respond in the quarter-final.
“We’ve got enough backup in our squad and we believe in the back-up that we’ve got to come in,” Montemurro said.
There is pressure on the Matildas to win on Friday night to not only advance to the semi-finals, but to take the caveats that come with it.
Win and Australia books their spot at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Lose and the semi-finalists on home soil three years ago will have to battle it out with the other quarter-final losers for one of two remaining World Cup places.
The Matildas were knocked out by South Korea at this stage of the last Asian Cup in India three years ago.
But Kerr stressed that the playing group are recalling the memories of their successful “do-or-die” clashes in recent times.
They are hoping for a repeat of performances like the 4-0 win against Canada in Melbourne to make it out of the group at the last World Cup, or the 4-3 extra time victory against Great Britain in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
“[We’ve focused on] games when everything was on the line – it was do-or-die,” Kerr said.
“The girls have brought up the Canada game at the last World Cup, where we had to win to go through and it could have ended in tears that night, but the girls went out there and smashed it.
“Obviously you can think about the heartbreak and stuff, but I don’t actually think it’s valuable in these moments. You need to think of the positives.”
The Matildas picked up 1-0 and 4-0 victories against the Philippines and Iran respectively in the group stage before the thrilling draw with South Korea.
Kerr feels like her team have improved with every outing and are well placed to raise their level in the knockout stages.
“I think we’ve been building ourselves up in the tournament. I don’t think yet we’ve had a top performance, but we’re saving that for tomorrow,” Kerr said.
“It’s a good [thing] we haven’t peaked too early, and I think the best is yet to come.”
Matildas gear up for North Korea clash | 01:11
The last time the two sides met at an Asian Cup was in the final in 2010.
The Matildas prevailed on penalties on the occasion – it was the last time Australia won the regional tournament.
The Australians will need to be prepared to withstand some of their opponents’ unusual theatrics.
In their final group game against China, North Korea stood on the sidelines and refused to the take pitch for several minutes after VAR ruled out a goal.
But Kerr said they will not be sucked in by any antics of that type.
“We honestly don’t know much about (North) Korea every time we play them,” she said.
“I think there’s probably their key characteries that they have back then they still have now.
“They like to run a lot, they’re aggressive, they never give up.
“Every time we have played them it’s been difficult.
“If we are not ready it will be a loss for us.
“We have to be ready to fight from the first minute.”
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