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Matildas star Sam Kerr topped off a fantastic year by winning the 2017 AFC Women’s Player of the Year Award on Wednesday night.
The current Perth Glory player not only starred for her country this year, helping the Matildas to victory in the Tournament of Nations, but she also set a new record for most goals scored (four) in just a single National Women’s Soccer League game in the USA playing for Sky Blue FC.
Kerr also finished the season in the NWSL as the highest goal-scorer, with 17 goals for her club, and has continued her superb form with four goals in just three games for the Glory in the W-League.
In a season full of personal accolades, Kerr’s highlight reel keeps getting longer after scoring some fantastic goals. Be it from long range or performing spectacular bicycle kicks, Kerr has proven that she can do it all.
And in between all of that she scored a hat-trick against the 2015 Women’s World Cup runners-up and Asia’s highest-ranked team, Japan. That hat-trick was part of an impressive performance by the Matildas as they won their second game 4-2 in the Tournament of Nations hosted by the USA.
The Matildas went on to win that tournament after a solid 1-0 victory over the USA in the opening match before annihilating Brazil 6-1 in the final to secure the title. In that match Kerr added to her great performance against Japan with another goal and finished the tournament as the highest goal-scorer with four.
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull).
Along with four friendlies played back home in Australia and combined with both the Tournament of Nations and the Algarve Cup in March, Kerr has scored 11 goals for her nation this year.
All of this raises the question: is Sam Kerr the best sportsperson in Australia at the moment? She very well could be, but then it’s very hard to compare her current success and form in the footballing arena to that of, say, Steve Smith or Ellyse Perry, who have stood up with the cricket bat against the old enemy.
It’s an extremely debatable question, and one this writer isn’t going to write about just at this stage. However, whether or not she is the best sportsperson in Australia at the moment, it’s undeniable that Kerr is in fantastic form and also has had a brilliant 2017.
The Perth Glory will hope Kerr continues to bang in the goals during the W-League, and if she can, then they will go a long way to winning the title. For Kerr, continuing this form is crucial, with the Women’s World Cup 17 months away in France.
At only 24 years old, the footballing world is at Kerr’s feet, and hopefully for her it can only keep going up from here.
Just some of her records this year, combined with the brilliant, consistent goals scored show how good she is. Every team she plays against should be scared, because she has the ability to tear opponents apart, like she has done all over the world this year.
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