SYDNEY — Fate had to be freaking kidding. Fate had to have lost whatever wobbly mind it has generally. What a louse, fate.
Three years of buildup since Australia became a World Cup co-host, three years to anticipate the Matildas and their super-duper-star Sam Kerr shining at home, three years go right to the brink of the beauty and then about 75 minutes before kickoff there’s this announcement that Sam Kerr can’t play? Twenty-three years after 114,714 in Stadium Australia sang “Waltzing Matilda” to end a near-peerless Summer Olympics, and now the same stadium starts to fill with 75,784 for its biggest global moment since, and Sam Kerr got some calf injury in training the day before and will miss at least the first two World Cup matches?