Key Points
- Kerr will lead the Matildas against Sweden in the third-placed play-off on Saturday night.
- Coach Tony Gustavsson said Kerr's mentality had been critical to the Matildas' success.
- The Matildas will again be without defender Alanna Kennedy, who is suffering delayed concussion symptoms.
Sam Kerr has spoken of her burning desire to ensure Australia finishes the Women's World Cup with a bronze medal after admitting at one stage she did not know whether she would get to play a single minute of it.
Kerr will lead the Matildas against Sweden at Lang Park in Brisbane on Saturday night.
There, Australia's captain intends to play with the same instinct that led to her wonder goal from long range in the .
"Third place would be an amazing thing for us and an amazing thing for this country. For us there is that extra motivation to end on a high and leave an amazing legacy," Kerr said on Friday.
"Coming third place at a Women's World Cup is something you can only dream of as a kid.
"Today at training we were all a little bit sad. Last training session. Last prehab together.
"It feels a little bit sad that it is over but we have one more game where we can really end on a high."
Kerr's , sustained the day before the tournament kicked off, was never going to prevent her from embracing a life-changing four weeks.
"At some point in the tournament, I was thinking I might never play in this World Cup but I was lucky enough to get back. Now it's the icing on the cake that I can step on the park and help the girls," she said.
"I've had so many people help me get me where I am today. It was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I have never had a muscle injury before. I didn't know what I was feeling or how long it was going to take.
"I picked Steph Catley's brain a million times because she has had a few calf injuries, and tried to wrap my head around it.
"Once we got to the knockout stages the girls did amazing and it was ... risk it all.
"It has been amazing to just be on this journey. If I hadn't played one minute it would have been the best moment of my career to be here."
Sam Kerr said it was up to others to judge whether her goal in the semi-final match against England, the only one the Matildas scored, was her "Cathy Freeman moment". Source: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
"It can be so devastating and you can bring the whole team down because you can't handle your own emotions but what Sam did ... says everything about Sam as a person and as a leader for this team," he said.
"Just with the energy she gave, the belief she gave, the support she gave while going through her toughest moment in her career."
Kerr hadn't trained as much as she wanted to during the tournament but insisted she was "ready to go" against Sweden.
"Once I am back, there is no holding me back," she said.
"Of course I would have liked to have had a better run-up but that doesn't matter now. You saw the other night with that goal ... it is instinct for me.
"Most of my footballing career is on instinct. That for me was an instinct goal and I will always have that no matter how fit, unfit I am or how many sessions I have done or not done."
"It was an amazing moment for the team and the country but it didn't really come to much," she said.
The Matildas will again be without defender Alanna Kennedy, who is suffering delayed concussion symptoms stemming from the dramatic quarter-final win over France.
