Matildas rocked by worrying Katrina Gorry development ahead of Paris Olympics
Katrina Gorry was spotted on crutches after being injured for club team West Ham.
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Matildas ahead of the Paris Olympics, with Katrina Gorry picking up an injury in West Ham's loss to Chelsea in the Women's Super League. The star midfielder was spotted on crutches at halftime after being forced off in the 18th minute when Chelsea's Melanie Leupolz lunged in and caught Gorry's leg.
The 31-year-old grabbed her right shin and ankle after the tackle and despite her best attempts, she was unable to walk off the injury. West Ham boss Rehanne Skinner said it was "too early" to know the full extent of Gorry's injury, which appears likely to at least rule her out of the Matildas' clash with Mexico in Texas on April 9.
"We need to make sure we see how that settles down overnight and then get her assessed as early as we possibly can and see what the outcome is," Skinner said after the match. "She is in a boot – on a precautionary basis – as we want whatever swelling comes to settle down and then we will go from there."
Gorry's injury puts her in doubt for the Olympics which take place at the end of July. The Matildas face a tough task already, drawn in the group of death with the USA, Germany and either Morocco or Zambia in Group B. The Matildas have only ever defeated the USA once in 33 meetings. Their last meeting was at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medal playoff where the USA won 4-3.
Paris will mark the fifth Olympic Games for the Matildas having featured in 2000, 2004, 2016 and 2020. Fourth place at the Tokyo Olympics is their best-ever finish. And the Matildas will have to navigate an extremely strong group in 2024 without a host of their stars, most notably Sam Kerr.
Kerr tore her ACL during training earlier this year and is expected to miss around nine months. Holly McNamara's (ACL), Lydia Williams (ankle), Charlie Rule (hip) and Chloe Logarzo (hip) are all also set to miss the Paris Games.
Emily Van Egmond is not worried about tough draw
The Matildas qualified for Paris after defeating Uzbekistan 13-0 on aggregate earlier this year but their hopes of a maiden Olympic medal took a hit following the tough group stage draw. But Matildas vice-captain Emily Van Egmond is not worried about Australia's group, hailing the strength of women's football around the world.
"We've seen women's football is growing and the Olympics is a super competitive tournament...It's all about focusing on us with the challenge that lies ahead," she said last week after the draw. When asked about the challenges of facing Germany and the USA, Van Egmond reiterated how hard it is to qualify with the strength of the women's footballing landscape.
"I think you saw our hard it was for the European teams to qualify with England and Sweden missing out. For us, it is just about focusing on ourselves," she added. England made the 2023 World Cup final but failed to qualify for the Olympics. Sweden defeated Australia in the third-place playoff at the 2023 World Cup, but also failed to qualify for the Olympics.
with AAP