Australia’s hopes of lifting the women’s football world cup in Germany have taken a significant blow, after experienced striker Katie Gill was ruled out with a knee injury.
WAIS-AIS scholarship holder Gill, injured her knee while playing in Sweden for her club side Linkoping. Gill damaged her anterior cruciate ligament, with the 26 year-old set for surgery in Adelaide, before returning home to Perth to begin a rehabilitation process of between nine to 12 months.
The news is particularly damaging to the Matildas camp given the forward had excelled in 2010, helping Australia to victory in the Asian Cup, before being named Asian Footballer of the Year and winning the golden boot trophy at the Peace Queen Cup in Korea.
Gill had been one of three Western Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holders expected to travel with the Matildas to Germany for the June-July showpiece. Matildas vice-captain Collette McCallum and young-gun Sam Kerr are preparing to face New Zealand in two warm up games against New Zealand next week.
WAIS head football coach John Gibson admitted that the loss of Gill would be a huge blow for the Matildas, but backed the second highest goal scorer in Matildas history to over-come the setback and continue her fine career in the green and gold.
“She’s been a key member of the Matildas in recent times and will be a significant loss both for the World Cup and September’s Olympic Qualifiers,” Gibson said.
“I’m obviously devastated for Katie, she has worked so hard in the last few years to get to where she is and she was looking forward to challenging herself on the world stage and helping Australia to a successful world cup campaign,” Gibson said.
“It’s her first major injury, but she’s already asking what she can do in training,” Gibson said. “Katie as is her nature, will be meticulous with her rehab.”
