Kerr always destined to become Australia's golden girl

Chelsea star carries hopes of a nation after rising totop of thegame,asher _, primary school PE teacher predicted...

- Simon Collings

WHEN Sam Kerr finished primary school, her PE teacher made a prediction.

Kerr was 12 at the time, but even at that age her footballing talent was clear to everyone at Samson Primary School.

"We give awards at the end of primary school," PE teacher Marion Burt tells Standard Sport. "And, when I wrote my speech for her, my last line was, 'Samantha, we look forward to following your international career""

It is 18 years since Burt's speech and her words have come true, as tomorrow night Kerr will captain Australia when the co-hosts kick off their World Cup campaign against the Republic of Ireland in Sydney.

Kerr is a global superstar and the poster girl of this tournament. Her face is all over adverts, billboards and even a two-storey mural in Fremantle, the port city where Kerr grew up.

Fremantle is, like much of Western Australia, very laidback. The locals here joke that WA stands for "wait awhile".

Kerr, however, was always remembered for being a bundle of energy during break times at school.

"She would be out there refining her back-flips, with a few other girls - who never attempted it," says Burt.

"She wouldn't do it for very long, because the boys would be playing soccer and that is where she wanted to be."