Grenoble: A dominant Sam Kerr netted all four of Australia’s goals as they confirmed their place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 knockout stage with a 4-1 win over Jamaica.
The Matildas victory means they will now meet Norway in the Round of 16, after they finished in second place on the group table, narrowly ahead of Brazil, who beat Italy 1-0 in the other Group C match.
Kerr scored twice in each half to help the Matildas to their second successive win, with her sensational display taking her level with Alex Morgan as the competition’s top scorer on five goals.
Australia’s future in the competition was on the line in Grenoble, but they showed few signs of nerves early on, as Kerr rose to masterfully head Emily Gielnik’s cross beyond goalkeeper Nicole McClure and into the top corner in the 11th minute.
Gielnik to Kerr was, by far, the most commonly used method of attack for Australia, who looked to find their star striker at every opportunity as they hunted for enough goals to potentially overhaul the Italians into top spot in the group.
Congratulations, @TheMatildas! ??
See you in the Round of 16! #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/XDTEpD9les
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 18, 2019
Jamaica briefly kept Kerr quiet but they made the mistake of leaving her totally unmarked six yards from goal in the 42nd minute, with the Australian captain, predictably, scoring with another header.
Australia went into the break 2-0 up and, with Italy and Brazil scoreless, second in the group, but they made a nightmare start to the second half, as what has recently been a porous defence allowed Havana Solaun in behind, with the Norwegian-based midfielder rounding Lydia Williams to score a historic first ever World Cup goal for Jamaica.
That goal emboldened the Reggae Girlz, who began to create chance after chance, many of them falling to Khadija Shaw who, fortunately for Australia, struggled to find the target.
Hayley Raso was introduced as a substitute, and it was her sparkling play which allowed to Australia to breathe, as Kerr poked home her third to become the third player to net a hat-trick against Jamaica in this tournament in the 69th minute.
So, to conclude Group C:
1⃣ #ITA-- 6 (Q)
2⃣ #AUS-- 6 (Q)
3⃣ #BRA-- 6 (Q)
4⃣ #JAM-- 0#FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/GMDBnChI0I— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) June 18, 2019
But while that goal took Australia a step closer to securing three points, Brazil’s goal against Italy temporarily saw the Matildas fall to third on the table.
They pressed on, and Kerr continued her one-woman assault on the Jamaican goal when she punished a dreadful possession error from McClure to poke the ball home from a matter of a few yards in the 83rd minute.
With no further goals in Grenoble, attention turned to whether Brazil could score another goal in Valenciennes, and knock Australia into third place, but they were unable to add to Marta’s penalty and the Matildas celebrated an important win.
Photos: FIFA via Getty Images
Source: the-afc.com