Women’s World Cup LIVE: Kerr named to start, ill Kennedy at home for Matildas while England names unchanged side

Good news, Matildas fans. Sam Kerr is starting.

She’s come off the bench in the previous two games (Denmark, France) but this is the first time she’ll lead the team out in a World Cup game.

Emily van Egmond will play off the bench to make way for Kerr.

As Australian captain and the face of the tournament, it will be a momentous occasion to see Kerr lead the team out for the first time.

It’s also a great indicator of her fitness.

Veteran and most-capped Matildas player Clare Polkinghorne is also starting for the first time this tournament.

Alanna Kennedy is starting on the bench.

Dawn Toyton and her family live in the Northern Beaches but are originally from England.

They were in London last time the Matildas played the Lionesses.

“No, we expected a good game, but Australia just kicked ass. It’s brilliant.”

She said she’s “secretly hoping the Matildas do well tonight”. (Cat might be out of the bag now).

Her daughter, Freja, made a poster for Ellie Carpenter and said she’s excited for hopefully a close game.

Freja’s friend Sophie is in an English jersey, which she got decked out in Lionesses’ signatures at an open training earlier in the tournament.

The Women’s World Cup might have broken many records already – my personal favourite being the decibel level at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium during the match against France – there’s another biggie coming its way. For Australia to meet England in our first ever semi-final adds layers of history and one of the hottest rivalries in sport to a competition that’s already captivated the nation.

The analysts seem to think England are favourites, by around 2:1. However, these analysts may also have overlooked the fact there’s only one team in the final four who have beaten all the others in recent months: the Matildas. They dispatched England 2-0 at Wembley, and beat Sweden (4-0) and Spain (3-2) on home soil. They may have been friendlies, but Matildas now know with certainty that they can beat every remaining competitor if they play to their plan.

The Matildas have no reason to fear. They are already a national success. There’s only upside every time they take the field.

Click here to read the story.

There’s an interesting mix of Matildas jerseys and cowboys boots out at Olympic Park tonight.

The Matildas semi-final just so happens to coincide with a Luke Combs concert…or is it the other way round?

Either way, there’s a buzz about the precinct as 80,000 people make their way to Stadium Australia.

The Denby family have driven down from Newcastle for the occasion, opting to splurge on the only tickets that were left on the FIFA website - corporate box tickets.

They’ve been to so many games this World Cup they’ve lost count, but they’re not short of spirit walking into the Stadium.

With boots, jerseys and shin pads to be signed, they’re hoping to snag the signature of Clare Hunt or Tameka Yallop.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson says Sam Kerr is “definitely available for selection” in the World Cup semi-final against England, and will decide on Tuesday night if the captain will start.

Kerr looked fresh and energetic at training 24 hours before the most important match in Australian football history, having declared she was “good to go” after playing 65 minutes in Saturday’s history-making quarter-final win over France.

“She pushed through more minutes than we hoped for, to be honest,” Gustavsson said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“One of the reasons why we kept her on the bench was that we were uncertain how many minutes she had coming back from that calf injury, but also the limited training minutes she had.

“The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive, both from a mental and physical aspect.”

Click here to read the story.

We’re just under three hours from kick-off and as people start to clock off from work, the Rocks in Sydney is proving the place to be.

At the Glenmore Hotel, fans are trickling in, with many grabbing an early dinner before heading to the game.

Laura Hughes, 22, and Emily Roach, 20, are here with family from Canberra, who have made the trip up the Hume to go to the game.

Hughes and Roach play together in the W-League for Canberra with aspirations to become future Matildas.

At 17, Hughes even played against Sam Kerr while she was playing for Perth Glory.

“It was pretty daunting because I was pretty young. She’s unreal on the field. We had two people marking her the whole time,” Hughes said.

“I’ve played against most of [the Matildas].”

Another group getting ready for the game at the Glenmore with family was Meleri Mullan, 23, Ellie Sparrow, 20, and Zoe Tolland, 20.

The trio also play soccer and bought tickets back in November last year to ensure they wouldn’t miss the game.

“I hope [the World Cup] will bring out lots more fans to the women’s A-League season coming up because they don’t get huge crowds and the league is improving each year,” Tolland said.

Mullan said on the flight from Adelaide to Sydney, multiple people were wearing Matildas jerseys which was “awesome” to see.

“And not just females but males, children everyone getting around it,” she said.

In the dressing rooms after Australia’s quarter-final victory over France, their spot in the semi-finals assured, the Matildas players screamed a chant at the top of their lungs: “Macca’s on fire, nah nah nah nah, Macca’s on fire ...”

“Macca” is Mackenzie Arnold, Australia’s goalkeeper whose heroics, nerves of steel and technical ability earned her player of the match honours against France and sent the nation to its first football World Cup semi-final.

In modern sporting parlance, Macca was “clutch”. She saved a series of French shots to keep a clean sheet and take Australia to extra time, then to penalties.

Then, during those penalties, she saved two early shots by the French before crossing the line to take her own kick when the match was up for grabs. She missed, but stayed composed, even as one shot slipped in off her gloves and another fell in off the crossbar. When she made her next save it was disallowed on video review and a retake was ordered, so she saved it again.

In the end, it was Arnold’s defiance that allowed Cortnee Vine to take the winning shot for Australia.

Click here to read the story.

Fed Square has been the official live site for every game of the World Cup and will continue in that role for the remaining games including tonight’s match.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews tweeted on Saturday night that AAMI Park would be opened up for fans who want to watch the clash.

The stadium has a capacity of around 29,000 people but was slightly less than that in its World Cup format to accommodate the media, while its video screens were updated as part of refurbishments for the World Cup.

The City of Greater Dandenong will also show the Matildas semi-final on the big screen at Harmony Square in Dandenong.

Click here to read the story.