Matildas star breaks silence on team-mate Sam Kerr amid questions over the Australia striker’s captaincy
Australia vice-captain Ellie Carpenter has thrown her support behind team-mate Sam Kerr following the Chelsea star’s high-profile court case in London last week.
It is now seven days since Kerr was cleared of the racially aggravated harassment of a British police officer and has since returned to train with Chelsea as she makes her way back from a year on the sidelines.
Kerr suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture back in January 2024 and required surgery to fix the injury.
But her team-mate was hopeful that the Matildas star could return to the pitch soon, with Sonia Bompastor having previously revealed she could be fully fit to play in February or March.
‘This will be my only comment regarding Sam,’ Carpenter said to reporters via a Zoom call on Tuesday.
‘We hope she’s OK with her wellbeing. Obviously, it has been a very challenging time for her.
Australia star Ellie Carpenter (right) has thrown her support behind Matildas captain Sam Kerr
Kerr was cleared of racially aggravated harassment of a UK police officer last week, but doubts remain over her role as the Matildas captain
Kerr (pictured) subsequently returned to Chelsea training last week, with her coach Sonia Bompastor stating that the Matildas star was making good progress back from an ACL injury
‘And secondly, we really hope her rehab journey with her knee is going well and we all can’t wait to see her back on the pitch with her club.
‘That’s such a hard and lengthy journey, as I’ve been through as well.
‘I really hope that she’s back on the pitch doing what she loves, and that’s going to be the best thing.’
In Kerr’s absence, Steph Catley has stepped in to captain the side while Emily Van Egmond and Carpenter have shared deputy duties.
Questions have been mounting over whether Kerr should retain the Matildas captaincy, with Football Australia refusing to be drawn on whether she will keep the armband, throwing their support behind the 31-year-old.
The governing body did state though that they were ‘investing heavily in building the behavioural standards and expectations of those involved in the sport, especially for all our national team players, where leadership comes with added responsibilities on and off the field.’
‘Football Australia will reflect with Sam on learnings from this matter and we will continue to provide appropriate support for her moving forward.’
Chelsea manager, Sonia Bompastor, also stated that the London outfit will be throwing their support behind Kerr and will work to assist her in her return to the playing field.
Kerr (right) was pictured smiling as she posed for a snap during training with Guro Reiten (left) last week. It is unclear though when the striker will be fit to play again
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has since spoken out on Kerr’s trial, stating that the club would only look to stand behind the Matildas star
‘Yeah, it happens in life and now you also need to be forgiven for that and move forward,’ Bompastor said during her press conference last week.
‘But I think she made a statement and she was clear in her statement, she was clear in her statement and I think that was clear enough. I think what she was facing last week was hard enough for her.
‘The only thing we want to do as a club is support her.’
Australia return to action later this month for the SheBelieves Cup in the United States.
Tom Sermani is set to continue on as the side’s boss on an interim basis, with Matildas taking on Japan in their opening fixture before playing USA and Colombia in their group stages.
