Incoming Matildas boss Joe Montemurro revealed a new setback in the return of Australia captain Sam Kerr from injury on Monday, disclosing that the Chelsea striker has recently undergone an additional surgery unrelated to her January 2024 ACL tear.
"I think there were some complications," Montemurro told Australia's Channel 10 about the 31-year-old attacker's status this week. "There was a subsequent intervention, but I do believe she is now back running."
"It was something completely different [to the ACL injury]. I think the knee is fine," Montemurro continued.
Montemurro, who took the reins of the Matildas this week following a year-long stint leading European club titan OL Lyonnes, did not detail a specific timeline for Kerr's return.
However, the Australia captain is likely to miss the world No. 16 team's upcoming three summer friendlies against No. 38 Slovenia and No. 57 Panama.
That said, though Montemurro has yet to directly connect with Kerr, the Australia boss did state that "there's nothing to worry about, she's on track."
"By all reports, she's focused on getting back and she's focused on being back at her best, knowing that there's an exciting tournament coming up," the new Matildas manager said, referencing the 2026 Asian Cup.
"So with that attitude, I expect to see a fantastic Sam Kerr."
Another Washington Spirit coach is departing DC, with multiple weekend reports linking current manager Jonatan Giráldez to the newly opened head coaching job at French Première Ligue side OL Lyonnes.
According to The Athletic, Giráldez will step away from the Spirit in June, with assistant Adrián González — who led Washington as interim manager prior to Giráldez's mid-2024 arrival — set to take over the NWSL squad on July 18th.
The move follows additional reports that first-year OL Lyonnes boss Joe Montemurro is Australia-bound after agreeing to head up his home country's national team, the Matildas.
Spirit coach swap raises questions for multi-team owner Kang
With Giráldez jumping from one Michele Kang-owned team to another, the former Barcelona manager's European return raises questions about Kang's multi-club ownership model — and concerns about the future of injured Spirit star Trinity Rodman, who recently took leave from the NWSL to seek treatment overseas.
"We are not going to sacrifice one team to make another team successful. Absolutely not," Kang told Forbes in 2024 interview. "Our goal is to make every team the champion in each of their leagues."
In addition to the Spirit and OL Lyonnes, Kang's Kynisca corporation also owns recently promoted WSL side London City Lionesses.
The Spirit has weathered big changes before, but Kang's involvement in this particular personnel swap will face critique should Washington lose pace later this season.
The USWNT hit the ground running on Thursday, taking down Colombia 2-0 to kick off the 2025 SheBelieves Cup with a bang.
Catarina Macario opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with her first international goal in almost three years, before 21-year-old Ally Sentnor put the game out of reach at the 60-minute mark with her first-ever international tally.
"Everybody is super happy, super proud, and I'm sure everybody back at Chelsea is too," US head coach Emma Hayes said of Macario’s strike, as the forward continues her long return from injury.
USWNT rookies show out
Hayes’s decision to feature less experienced players in the match paid off, with the winning side bolstered by numerous first caps, starts, and a screamer of a goal for the world No. 1 team.
In just her third cap and first start for the senior national team, Sentnor's efforts earned her praise from Hayes, who called the young attacker's performance "tenacious on both sides of the wall."
Also excelling in her first USWNT start was 17-year-old Lily Yohannes, who lofted the ball forward in pursuit of Macario’s opening goal and stood out as the most creative passer within a US midfield that completed over 500 passes.
"She's really switched on and someone who understands the importance of doing everything for the team and for that I really admire her," Hayes said after the match.
Hayes also continued her efforts to mint new USWNT players with a trio of first caps in Thursday's match. While forward Michelle Cooper and defender Gisele Thompson snagged their first USWNT minutes as late substitutes, center-back Tara McKeown grabbed a starting spot, then capitalized on the opportunity by registering an assist to set up Sentnor's jaw-dropping goal.
Hayes has emphasized the need for the USWNT to develop its future, but Thursday’s performance showed that the future might be closer than originally expected — especially considering the big names missing from this window’s USWNT roster.
Sonnett celebrates 100th USWNT cap
Alongside all the noteworthy firsts, the USWNT also had the chance to celebrate its veteran leadership on Thursday.
Prior to the match, the team honored Emily Sonnett for her 100th cap before the versatile defender captained the squad as a starting center-back on the night.
Notably, Sonnett's USWNT tenure includes competing in all 10 iterations of the SheBelieves Cup — more than any other player.
USWNT to face Australia in second SheBelieves match
Now sitting in second in the SheBelieves Cup standings, the USWNT trails only Japan due to goal differential after the Nadeshiko toppled Australia 4-0 on Thursday afternoon.
The struggling Matildas, who failed to register a single shot on goal against Japan, must now face the seven-time SheBelieves champion USWNT in Arizona on Sunday — a team Australia has only defeated once in the pair's 35 all-time meetings.
The last time the teams met, the US defeated the Matildas 2-1 in the final group stage match of the 2024 Olympics to advance to the quarterfinals.
This time out, expect heavy roster rotation from Hayes's squad as players look to stay healthy for their club seasons, with some still ramping up to full fitness before the 2025 NWSL season.
How to watch the USWNT vs. Australia in the SheBelieves Cup
The USWNT kicks off against Australia in the 2025 SheBelieves Cup at 5 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage on TBS, Max, and Peacock.
The 2025 SheBelieves Cup kicks off on Thursday, when head coach Emma Hayes’s refreshed USWNT roster will take on No. 21 Colombia at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium.
The match is the first of three international friendlies that the world No. 1 USWNT will play during the annual tournament's 10th edition, with games against No. 15 Australia and No. 8 Japan set for Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.
SheBelieves to test young USWNT players
With a number of big-name veterans missing from the February roster and the road to the 2027 World Cup just beginning, Hayes is using the 2025 SheBelieves Cup to try out less experienced USWNT players against some of the world’s best contenders.
"The reality is we have top ability, that's clear, but we want to develop a combination of things: their personal resilience, which we do, and their learning mindset," Hayes told reporters earlier this week.
"We give them the opportunity, and that opportunity will either tell us that they're ready now, or they're ready later."
One guaranteed area of focus throughout the tournament will be goalkeeping, as the USWNT seeks a replacement for previous mainstay Alyssa Naeher, who hung up her boots at the end of 2024.
With Naeher and her 115 career appearances behind them, Hayes confirmed that both Jane Campbell and Mandy McGlynn are expected to earn starts during this window.
Campbell, the net-minder for the NWSL's Houston Dash, has eight caps with the USWNT, while Utah Royals keeper McGlynn earned her first and only appearance in the team's 3-0 win over Argentina last October.
"[Campbell and McGlynn] have to demonstrate they can make the important decisions under pressure — both sides of the ball," Hayes noted.
With Hayes firmly past the "must win" mode with which she began her USWNT tenure, her next challenge is to properly test this new next-gen roster’s resilience, as the slow and steady ramp-up to the Brazil-hosted 2027 World Cup outweighs immediate results.
How to watch the USWNT vs. Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup
The USWNT will kick off against Colombia at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage across TBS, Max, and Peacock.
Chelsea FC star Sam Kerr was found not guilty of racially harassing a London police officer on Tuesday. A Kingston Crown Court jury acquitted the striker of all charges after four hours of deliberation.
The 31-year-old Australia national was tried for allegedly causing "racially aggravated harassment, alarm, or distress" to PC Stephen Lovell. The allegations followed a heated January 2023 dispute between a local taxi driver and Kerr and her fiancée, USWNT star Kristie Mewis.
Kerr, who identifies as Anglo-Indian, did not deny calling the officer "stupid and white." Instead, she argued that the police treated her differently due to her skin color. Kerr called her words a "poorly" expressed comment on the officer's "power and privilege."
After the verdict, Kerr released her own statement on social media. "I can finally put this challenging period behind me," she wrote.
"While I apologise for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone and I am thankful that the jury unanimously agreed."
"I would like to thank my partner Kristie, my family, friends and all the fans for their love and support, especially those who attended court each day."
Kerr looks ahead with harassment trial now in the rearview
Kerr spent the last year recovering from a January 2024 ACL tear. However, she recently re-signed with the London club after originally joining the WSL frontrunners in 2019.
The prolific goalscorer is on track to return to the pitch for both club and country in approximately two months. While this leaves her out of selection for the upcoming 2025 SheBelieves Cup, Kerr could rejoin in time for Australia's April friendlies against South Korea.
This morning, The Athletic reported that Kerr left the proceedings surrounded by family. As she exited, she flashed a "friendly smile" and told the court officer she "hoped to never see them again."
Chelsea FC star Sam Kerr is taking the stand this week, as her trial for allegedly verbally abusing a white London police officer got underway on Monday.
The Australia national team captain pleaded not guilty to one count of racially aggravated harassment before testifying on Wednesday.
While the celebrated striker did not deny calling PC Stephen Lovell "stupid and white" as documented by the officer's body camera, Kerr's legal team is arguing that both the specific incident and "the law is a little more nuanced, a little more human than that."
Kerr describes "terrifying" cab ride at trial
The incident in question occurred in January 2023, when Kerr and her fiancée, USWNT and West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, experienced a concerning late-night taxi ride.
Kerr testified that she leaned out of an open window after beginning to feel sick during the the ride. She alleges that the driver then rolled up the window and proceeded to "drive dangerously," including "swerving in and out of lanes."
The erratic driving allegedly lasted 15 to 20 minutes. Kerr also told the jury that the driver refused to stop or unlock the doors and windows.
"I was terrified for my life," the 31-year-old testified. "We were not in control... I deemed him to be dangerous because of the driving but also because he could have taken us anywhere. He couldn’t be tracked so no one knew where we were."
Mewis eventually "kicked out [the window] with her boot" in an attempt to escape what they thought was a kidnapping. As a result, the driver delivered the pair to the police station.
Perceived lack of help sparked comment from Kerr
At the police station, the couple told officers about their experience. Kerr says she felt that the police did not believe them, prompting the heated exchange.
"The words were a comment, we say — however poorly expressed — about positions of power, about privilege and about how those things might color perception," Kerr's lawyer Grace Forbes argued.
"I expressed myself poorly in that moment. What I was trying to get across was I felt that they were treating me differently and not believing me and treating me as a person that had done something wrong," Kerr elaborated.
"They were in a position of privilege and power. I believed they were treating me specifically differently because of the color of my skin."
Notably, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) originally decided not to charge Kerr. They had determined that the only outcome of a prosecution would be a simply apology from the soccer star.
While PC Lovell's initial statement made no mention of Kerr's comments having any impact on him, he submitted a second statement in the wake of CPS's decision to not prosecute, later claiming the footballer's words had been harassing.
CPS authorized the charge in December 2023, nearly a year after the incident occurred.
The USWNT remains undefeated at the Paris Olympics, registering their first perfect group stage since the 2012 Summer Games after defeating Australia 2-1 on Wednesday.
The US advances with a team-record nine group stage goals while also leading the Olympic field in both goal differential and goals scored.
First-time Olympians Rodman, Albert score in USWNT win
New USWNT manager Emma Hayes opted not to rotate her starting XI on Wednesday, despite the US having already qualified for the quarterfinal thanks to Sunday's win over Germany. The US's only change came by way of replacing the injured Tierna Davidson, who's currently out with a knee contusion, with center-back Emily Sonnett.
The USWNT fought an Australian low block for much of the match, with the Matildas unsuccessfully chasing the vital point they needed to advance out of Group B.
First-time Olympian Trinity Rodman opened the scoring for the US just before halftime, while substitute Korbin Albert notched the game-winner in the 77th minute. Matildas defender Alanna Kennedy brought her team within one goal of equalizing in the 91st, but the US held on through the rest of stoppage time to claim the win.
USWNT's Coffey out for Olympics quarterfinal
Hayes's emphasis on consistency earned the result, but not without consequences. Midfielder Sam Coffey earned her second group stage yellow card minutes into the match, rendering her unavailable for the quarterfinal against Japan and guaranteeing Hayes's first Olympic change to the USWNT's starting midfield.
Saturday's match will also determine the USWNT's path forward, as advancing to the semifinal round secures a shot at a medal.
Other noteworthy Olympic soccer results
France finished atop Group A with a win against New Zealand, while Canada came back from a six-point deduction to finish second with a victory over Colombia, who also advanced in third place.
Due to goal differential, Canada's win denied Australia the opportunity to advance, marking their worst women's soccer finish since 2000, while Germany took second with a win over Zambia.
Spain also capped a perfect group stage with their win over third-place Brazil, who managed to overcome Marta's red card to advance from Group C. Japan also moved forward, finishing second with a win over Nigeria.
The extent of Sam Kerr’s injury drew renewed concerns on Monday after conflicting messages from the Australian women’s national team at the World Cup. Kerr, Australia’s superstar forward, is currently sidelined with a calf injury sustained in training last week.
Asked about Kerr during a press conference with local media, Australian midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross suggested the 29-year-old suffered a more serious injury than had previously been reported.
“It’s unfortunate that Sam tore her calf before the game,” Cooney-Cross said, according to a local ABC broadcast.
An Australia team spokesperson later clarified to ABC reporter Jessica Stewart that Cooney-Cross’ description of Kerr’s injury was incorrect. An edited video of Cooney-Cross’ press conference published on the Matildas’ website also removed the comment in question.
ABC's @Jess_Stewart16 asked #Matildas Kyra Cooney-Cross about #SamKerr's calf injury and this is what she said...#FIFAWWC #football #Matildas pic.twitter.com/ZT8aF7puDp
— Tracey Holmes (@TraceyLeeHolmes) July 24, 2023
Kerr was originally ruled out of Australia’s first two World Cup group stage games for what she and Football Australia referred to as a “calf injury.”
“Unfortunately I sustained a calf injury yesterday in training,” she wrote in a statement on Instagram. “I wanted to share this with everyone so there is no distraction from us doing what we came here to achieve. Of course, I would have loved to have been out there tonight but I can’t wait to be apart of this amazing journey which starts now.”
Football Australia said the team’s medical staff would reassess Kerr after the second group stage game against Nigeria on Thursday. Australia won their World Cup opener 1-0 over Ireland on Thursday.
Kerr watched Matildas training on Monday while wearing a compression wrap around her left calf. Australia’s all-time leading international scorer was expected to play a key role for the host country at the 2023 World Cup, and her status for the rest of the tournament remains unclear.
A number of women’s soccer stars will now have their own Legos after the company released a 2023 Women’s World Cup set this month.
The players featured are U.S. women’s national team forward Megan Rapinoe, Australia’s Sam Kerr, Japan’s Yuki Nagasato and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala. The set comes as part of Lego’s Play Unstoppable campaign that “aims to challenge stereotypes around play and creative building, and encourage girls to unlock the freedom they need to play without boundaries.”
The Women’s World Cup kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, where the USWNT will aim to defend its title from 2019.
“Play, both on and off the pitch, helps children explore who they are, build confidence and feel like part of a team. It’s one of the reasons why women’s football is one of the fastest growing sports globally, with crowd attendance records being shattered regularly and over 30 million girls now playing the game worldwide,” said Kerr. “But despite the talent of female players and the excitement of the game finally being recognized on the global stage, there are still many stereotypes that surround girls, their hobbies and the way they play that we need to break down.
“I hope that seeing women like me achieve their dreams inspires girls to believe they are unstoppable when they get to do the things they love.”
Check out what happened on set for the LEGO shoot for Play Unstoppable. #LEGO#PlayUnstoppable https://t.co/7WUUUxGVGI
— Sam Kerr (@samkerr1) June 6, 2023
“Anything is possible. I think so much of what girls hear often is in a very tight little box with so many limitations,” Rapinoe said about the project. “I think play is so important. It’s where our creativity comes out. It’s where we learn new things about ourselves and other people.
“It’s where we can really shed barriers and sort of shed the constraints around us.”
Rapinoe said that she’s tried to break those barriers during her own career, which has led her to be unapologetic about who she is.
“My mantra for play is just to be myself and try new things and to use that creativity. I feel like there’s never really any mistakes, it’s just something that you learn from,” she said.
“I think the world would be much better if girls lived without limits. It’s like half the population is being limited and put into a little box. Like, we can only get better if we’re allowed to be our full selves.”
Rapinoe has played in five matches for OL Reign since returning from an ankle injury and is expected to be named to the USWNT’s 23-player roster for the World Cup this month. The 37-year-old forward has previously won two World Cup titles with the U.S. in 2015 and ’19.
Kerr, meanwhile, is set to captain Australia at the World Cup. The 29-year-old recently scored the game-winner in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United to claim the FA Cup title.
The U.S. women’s national team remains the favorite to win the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and the field looks as wide open as ever after a wild international window.
While the USWNT looked shaky in its two wins against Ireland, several of its competitors did not fair any better.
England fell 2-0 to World Cup co-host Australia, snapping its 30-match unbeaten streak, while Germany lost to Brazil for the first time since the 2008 Olympics. Sweden tied with long shot Norway, and France bested Olympic gold medal-winner Canada.
After the break, the USWNT leads all odds at +275 to win its third straight World Cup, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
England follows with +350 odds. That represents a slight change from January, when both England and the USWNT were tied with odds of +300 to win the World Cup trophy. At that time, Spain stood in third with +600 odds, while France and Germany tied for fourth at +700.
Spain and Germany now are tied for third at +650, while France is fourth at +750.
Sweden’s odds have slipped to +1400, while Australia remains at +1400 and is now tied for fifth. The Netherlands (+1600), Canada (+2500) and Brazil (+2500) also remain the same.
The international window represented the last chance to see national teams in action before World Cup rosters are finalized. The USWNT next takes the pitch at 4 p.m. ET Sunday, July 9, in San Jose, California, for a World Cup send-off match against Wales.