Incredible moment Sam Kerr gives Australia’s luckiest football fan the shirt off her back after helping the Matildas beat France: ‘It means the world to her’

Incredible moment Sam Kerr gives Australia’s luckiest football fan the shirt off her back after helping the Matildas beat France: ‘It means the world to her’

•  Fan got memory of a lifetime with superstar striker
•  Kerr gave her jersey to adoring young spectator
•  The Matildas won their quarter-final against France

By James Cooney For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:16 BST, 13 August 2023 | Updated: 01:16 BST, 13 August 2023

Sam Kerr has shown her class off the field by giving her shirt to a young spectator after the Matildas’ epic quarter-final win over France at the Women’s World Cup on Saturday night.

The Aussies won the nail-biting game against France 7-6 on penalties in the longest shootout in the history of any World Cup tournament.

Goalie Mackenzie Arnold made three saves before Cortnee Vine converted the winning spot-kick to seal the victory in front of 49,461 screaming fans and send the Matildas through to their first Cup semifinal.

Kerr, who has been battling an injury during the tournament, came off the bench in the 55th minute and converted her spot-kick in the penalty shootout.

After celebrating with the historic victory with teammates, Kerr was captured on camera walking up into the grandstand and giving her shirt to a young spectator.

Kerr came off the bench in the 55th minute and converted her spot-kick in the shootout

The girl was absolutely overjoyed with the gift from the Aussie superstar and couldn’t stop smiling.

‘Sam Kerr has given her shirt to a fan. Can you even imagine being that child?’ said Optus Sport’s Amy Duggan.

US soccer star Jess McDonald responded: ‘Those are some of the best moments for children. When equipment is being handed over by the best players in world and there’s no one better than Sam Kerr.’ 

Viewers also loved the touching moment.

‘That’s awesome,’ wrote one Twitter user. ‘That little girl will remember that moment for all of her life. She looks so excited. Love it.’

‘Her face, it means the world to her,’ said another.

Kerr was also captured by cameras having a quiet moment to herself after the dramatic conclusion to the match.

‘After the game when everyone was celebrating I just took a moment to myself on the bench,’ Kerr told Channel 7, before explaining why she needed some time to let it all sink in.

Kerr said after the celebrations she needed a moment to herself to process it all

Kerr said the side was ‘weirdly calm’ throughout the dramatic penalty shootout 

‘We just kept saying we cannot believe it. We’ve grown up together, us girls, and we’ve always talked about this and known we can do it.

‘We’ve just fallen short (before), so I think the fact that we’ve got to a semi-final in a World Cup now, we’re just all so shocked.

‘Oh my god, I just can’t believe it.’

Kerr went on to explain how the team kept their nerve in the shootout.

‘Weirdly it was super calm, because we had such a process,’ Kerr told Channel 7.

‘Of course it’s stressful on the outside. But we all were really calm, and we had so much faith in (goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold).

‘We’ve been doing that all week – all month, really. The process we went through just kept us really calm.

‘In the most stressful moment it was pretty calm actually.’

The Matildas will play England in next Wednesday’s semi-final at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

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