Matildas superstar Sam Kerr flies back to her home town of Perth sporting a telltale sign she suffered a new injury during the World Cup

Matildas captain Sam Kerr has been spotted at Brisbane Airport on his way home to Perth with her right calf strapped after a physically strenuous Women’s World Cup campaign.

Kerr and her teammates received the keys to the city in front of a screaming crowd at the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens on Sunday after their historic assault on the tournament.

The Matildas missed out on a medal after losing 2–0 to Sweden in the third place play-off in Brisbane, but their fourth-place finish is Australia’s best ever result at a World Cup for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Kerr missed the first three matches of the tournament due to an injury to her left calf, but her right also took a serious blow in the match against Sweden after she was also injured in the clash with France.

It was clear that her right leg was still giving her some grief as she made the journey home with the limb tied from the knee down.

The Aussie captain’s left calf was the most talked about muscle in Australia as it kept her off the pitch until the game against Denmark

Kerr put on her hood to avoid attention after being in the spotlight for the past month

After the bronze medal game against Sweden, Kerr revealed how both her calves affected her on the pitch.

“My calves are struggling to be honest and I just hit a knee in the back of my right knee, which is my strongest. But that’s irrelevant now,” she said on Optus Sports coverage.

Kerr then reflected on the truly remarkable tournament, describing it as the best period of the team’s career.

“It’s sad it’s come to an end, this has been the best four weeks of our careers and it would have been nice to go out on a high but I think we need to think and think how great this is” , she said. said.

“We’ve never been fourth before, so while it’s disappointing, we’ll look back in a few weeks and be proud of what we’ve done.”

While the Matildas went home empty-handed, they’ve accomplished something amazing.

Record-breaking crowds and TV viewers changed the sport forever during their stunning success.

Kerr told reports last weekend that she plans to appear at her fifth World Cup in four years.

Kerr hopes Matildas’ core group is still together for the next Women’s World Cup in 2027 – and she plans to play in the tournament

Kerr took a massive blow to her right calf in a tackle from Sweden’s Magdalena Eriksson during the Aussies’ third-place loss on Saturday night

‘I hope to be here. I’m only 29. I think most of us will still be here if we get the chance,” she said.

“We have to play at our club. We have to play well and stay injury free. Maybe a few more babies will come. Don’t know. Four years is a long time, but I hope the core group is still together.

“Obviously there will be people coming over and taking someone’s position and people who might not want to keep playing, but at the moment I haven’t heard of anyone retiring.

“As long as there are 22 spots, everyone will compete here for another four years.”