Kerr spurred on to lift Matildas to greater heights

Attacker Sam Kerr declared Australia better equipped than ever to get through the knockout stage of the FIFA Women's World Cup and have a real crack at the title.

Australia forward Samantha Kerr in full flight at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup (AFP/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

After advancing from the aptly-named "group of death" at the 2015 tournament in Canada, the Matildas reward is a Round of 16 showdown with highly-fancied Brazil at Moncton Stadium early on Monday morning (AEST).

Australia made it to the quarter-final stage of both the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, when the tournaments were just 16 teams.

The Matildas lost those quarter-finals, to Brazil (2007) and Sweden (2011), but from the way Kerr talks it is clear they are very confident of breaking through for their first-ever win in the knockout stage.

"Definitely, we're better equipped," Kerr said. "It goes without saying, I think.

"It's only my second World Cup, but even though we had a good team at the last World Cup we weren't as prepared as we are now and we didn't have as much depth.

"We're a young team, but we've picked up a few new players and the overall quality has improved from the last World Cup.

"Steph Catley, for instance, is doing great for us at left-back and there are so many other names I could mention that have improved us as a team.

"We're totally confident about breaking through to the top eight."

The team appears to have gone to a new level under coach Alen Stajcic with an improved balance of football skill and physical presence.

The Matildas have also dramatically improved their game-management skills.

They showed that by calmly navigating their way through a 1-1 draw with Sweden that ensured second spot in the group - rather than having to rely on being one of four third-placed teams.

"What we did against Sweden gives us confidence, to know we can play our game plan for 90 minutes and get through with the result we need," Kerr said.

"We thought we played even better in the second half than the first, which gave us a huge boost knowing we could manage the game well.

"'Staj' said at half-time 'be calm and play our own game' and I think when you start parking the bus and trying to defend that's when you risk losing games.

"I think Sweden was scared of our attack, so we just kept attacking and when you keep the opposition on the back foot the defending becomes a bit easier.

"We want to be known for playing good football, but we want teams to know that they're in for a battle as well. We've worked hard to establish ourselves that way.

"The physical way is kind of the Australian way and it's not normal for an Australian football team to be full of great footballers, but this team has a lot of exceptionally talented players.

"Emily van Egmond is one of many players I could mention. She has taken her game to another level and is playing brilliantly out of the midfield. We're becoming a real football-based team."

Asked how much potential there was for improvement coming out of the group stage, Kerr said it was mainly about eliminating lulls.

"I don't think we've played our best football for 90 minutes yet," she said. "We've played patches of good and bad.

"You're going to get that with a young team and we are such a young team, so we're just trying to improve on getting a full 90 minutes of quality football rather than ups and downs throughout the match.

"But it was such a tough group we were in and we're totally ready for the battle. It's a good thing we've had hard games because we've already stepped it up and now we just have to continue to do that."

Kerr said the best element of the team's form so far was its defence.

"We've been defending really well," she said.

"I know we attack really well, but a lot of credit goes to our defensive shape and how well we've been working for each other.

"A lot of attack comes from our defence, picking off balls, and we've been working on that for six months leading up to this.

"But we can kind of lose patience. We're attack-minded and sometimes we try and force things. We're a young team and we're learning that when you're winning you don't need to go forward as much."

Kerr is very mature for a 21-year-old, which is not surprising when you consider she has been playing for the Matildas since she was in her mid-teens.

The tournament has already been a very eventful one for her.

Kerr was flattened by an elbow to the face from Ugo Njoku, which brought the Nigeria defender a three-game suspension, and there has been the revelation from her brother - former West Coast Eagles AFL player Daniel - in a television interview that he had used the drug ice.

But Kerr has kept going strongly and her concentration remains fixed on the Matildas. She publicly addressed the story about her brother when it broke and did not wish to add to that.