Women’s Asian Cup: Matildas captain Sam Kerr kept her cool amid the chaos and her side is off to the final

As the clock struck the 57th minute, you could palpably feel the nerves simmering in the Optus Stadium cauldron. The Matildas had not been bad, and the Women’s Asian Cup semifinal was played more on their terms than the previous two games, but their caginess as China refused to yield was evident. Passes were missing their mark. Players were hesitant rather than snapping into challenges. Thoughts were already starting to turn to the possibility of extra time. Maybe even penalties had entered some minds. A minute later, the complexion of the match had tilted on its axis, turned on its head by one Sam Kerr. After Kaitlyn Torpey’s desperation, Kerr could have played a bounce pass; instead, she turned and freed up space to pick out Caitlin Foord, who then returned the favour to put the Matildas skipper through on goal. In a game of few chances, many players would have snatched at the opportunity, knowing they might not get a second look in the game. But, as we have learned by now, Kerr is not most players, and amid the chaos of the moment, she provided some much-needed calm. She composed herself when many would have sliced their shot, instead opting to calmly stroll around the goalkeeper and roll the ball into the back of the net. The Matildas’ biggest star delivered again. This is just what she does: scores when the stakes are highest. She has scored in multiple Women’s FA Cup finals, a Women’s Asian Cup final, an Olympic quarter-final, a Women’s World Cup semifinal. Add a Women’s Asian Cup semifinal and quarterfinal to that list, the latter two making it six consecutive Matildas games in Perth with a goal. Kerr leads by actions, and her strike altered not just the scoreline but the performance of the team. The Matildas took a leaf from their captain’s book as composure flowed through them. If they were guilty of panicking against South Korea and North Korea, they kept their cool against China. With the lead and their captain leading from the front, the rest of the team were emboldened by Kerr as they managed the final half-hour superbly. China did not throw themselves forward and attack with the same gusto North Korea did in the quarterfinal simply because they could not get hold of the ball in order to do so. The Matildas defence began to navigate the pressure from the Chinese forwards, and Australia’s midfield were able to sharpen up their passing angles and retain possession to keep China chasing the ball. At 1-1, that was not happening, and had the game reached its dying embers still all-square, that level of calm would not have been there. As she has done more times than one can count, Kerr laid the platform for her to team to see out a potential nervy finish with a relative degree of ease.