Concussed Kennedy ruled out of World Cup play-off

The Matildas will be without concussed defender Alanna Kennedy for their Women’s World Cup third-place play-off against Sweden.

Centre-back Kennedy missed the semi-final loss to England through illness, with Football Australia since confirming she is suffering delayed concussion symptoms stemming from Australia’s dramatic quarter-final win over France.

The blow for Australia comes as FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced the 2023 Women’s World Cup generated more than $US570 million ($887 million) in revenue.

Kennedy took several knocks in that game and notably clashed heads with France striker Eugenie Le Sommer, while she was the only player not to take a penalty in Australia’s winning shootout.

Her absence is a huge blow to Australia’s hopes of winning Saturday’s play-off at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

The 28-year-old’s aerial presence, leadership, aggression and organisation were sorely missed in the 3-1 defeat to England on Wednesday, with her replacement Clare Polkinghorne unable to provide the same impact.

Kennedy’s presence in defence and at attacking set pieces will again be missed against Sweden, whose central defender Amanda Ilestedt has proved a threat at both ends of the park during the tournament.

Polkinghorne, Aivi Luik, Steph Catley and Courtney Nevin are the options to replace Kennedy in central defence.

The Matildas looked weary against England after playing 120 minutes plus penalties against France, and are dealing with a tight, three-day turnaround to the play-off.

Tireless midfielder Katrina Gorry trained away from her teammates in Friday’s final session, with her left leg in a pressure wrap.

Coach Tony Gustavsson could need to turn to Alex Chidiac, Clare Wheeler or Tameka Yallop for a spark in midfield against the Swedes.

Gustavsson has shown little faith in his bench throughout the tournament, but he may have no choice given the kilometres his starters have pushed through across their first six games.

Australia have already gone further in a World Cup, men’s or women’s, than ever before by reaching the semi-final and are determined to come home with the bronze medal up for grabs.

After falling short to the USA in the bronze-medal match at the Tokyo Olympics, the Matildas have some insight into how to pick themselves up off the canvas and go again.

“It’s extremely important,” attacker Caitlin Foord said.

“The first thing that came to my mind was the Olympics when we fell short and then we battled for the bronze-medal match.

“Nothing hurt more than losing that game.

“So we have that in the back of our mind going into this game and we deserve to go home with something from this tournament.”

Best and greatest

Infantino said the Women’s World Cup has “broken even” in a statement that will intensify calls for equal prize money.

The current World Cup prize pools sit at $US110m for women and $US440m for men.

Infantino has consistently dismissed calls for a level playing field in terms of payments – including from the Matildas prior to the tournament.

On Friday, he suggested demands for equal prize money were a “slogan” that “would not solve anything”.

But the head of world football’s governing body was happy to talk up the funds brought in by the “best and greatest and biggest Women’s World Cup ever” in Australia and New Zealand.

“Some voices were raised, where it cost too much, we don’t make enough revenues, we will have to subsidise,” Infantino said at the FIFA Women’s Football Convention in Sydney on Friday.

– AAP