Outraged Matildas Supporter Exposes the Prevalent Sexism in Comparisons Between Sam Kerr and Socceroos Icon Tim Cahill – Great

A fired up Matildas fan has vented about Sam Kerr being repeatedly snubbed in her eyes when it comes to talk surrounding Australia’s greatest ever goal scorer.

Self-confessed feminist Wil Stracke posted a recent TikTok clip asking why Kerr’s decorated on-field achievements aren’t acknowledged in the same breath as Socceroos legend Tim Cahill.

Cahill, 43, scored 50 goals in 108 international appearances before retiring in 2018 – and Kerr has found the back of the net for Australia on 63 occasions.

Stracke was bewildered as to why the achievements of both footballers are viewed as separate.

‘Early last year a sports commentator [Socceroos legend Robbie Slater] wrote an article saying even though Sam Kerr had scored more goals for Australia, her record wasn’t equal to Tim Cahill’s,’ Stracke’s video – which has garnered almost 300,000 views – began.

‘The article [also] said you can’t compare men and women’s sports…except if you are talking about Australia’s greatest ever goal scorer, shouldn’t that just be a matter of counting the goals?

Stracke went onto point out if you ask the question on Google, ‘article after article just lists men’ and that ‘the clear default is sport equals men’ and that women just do ‘women’s sport.’

She concludes her argument by suggesting that Cahill is the greatest Socceroos goal scorer – but Kerr holds the Australian record.

Slater’s now infamous News Corp column left Kerr, 29, ‘disgusted and furious’ with the Matildas captain labelling the contents of the piece ‘the most sexist thing you could say.’

Kerr was seething at Slater’s claim that her goalscoring record for the national team is ‘not equal’ to Cahill’s.

‘Literally the most sexist thing you could say – not equal,’ Kerr stated on the pre World Cup documentary on Disney+ titled Matildas: The World at our Feet.

‘Imagine little girls reading that.

‘I cannot believe, in this day and age, that someone could write this, and have young girls read it, and that the [Daily] Telegraph would actually publish such a sexist comment on the front page.’

‘NOT EQUAL’, ‘DISRESPECTFUL’ and ‘IT’S RIDICULOUS’ were used in giant block capital letters on both the cover, and front and back pages of the sport section of the Daily Telegraph’s issue last January to describe how strongly Slater felt.

‘Let’s not proclaim Kerr as Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer,’ the Premier League winner with Blackburn Rovers wrote.

‘Don’t get me wrong. Sam Kerr is a fantastic player and I’m delighted that she has now scored 54 times for Australia….yes, she has scored more goals for the Matildas than any other player in history.

‘But Tim Cahill was a Socceroo, not a Matilda. His 50 goals for the Socceroos is a record that shouldn’t be overshadowed by Kerr’s achievements.

‘To do so is being disrespectful to Cahill.’

However Cahill, perhaps the best Australian male player of all time, clearly wanted no part of it.

‘Congratulations Sam Kerr on this amazing achievement. You are an inspiration globally and I’m one of your biggest supporters and always here for you on and off the park. Keep breaking records and most importantly enjoy the journey,’ he wrote on social media at the time.

Kick-off in the World Cup semi-final between the Matildas and England is 8pm AEST on Wednesday night.