Australia captain Kerr hopes to deliver iconic moment at home World Cup

MELBOURNE : Sam Kerr was a spellbound seven-year-old when she watched Indigenous Australian Cathy Freeman inspire a nation with an electrifying run for the 400m gold at the Sydney Olympics.

Twenty-three years on, the captain of Australia's Matildas hopes to conjure another iconic sporting moment for home fans at the Women's World Cup.

"Just watching how one person can be so focused and have the weight of the nation on her back, that really appealed to me as a kid," said Kerr.

"I feel we can have a 'Cathy Freeman moment'. Everyone knows where they were when Cathy ran that race."

The stage could not be better set for Kerr and her team mates, who may be the best Australian squad assembled at a World Cup.

Winning eight of their last nine matches, including a 2-0 upset of European champions England, Tony Gustavsson's side have emerged as genuine contenders from a bleak period last year.

Soccer has never been the country's most popular sport - Australian Rules football and rugby league contest that claim.

However, Australians are in the mood for more soccer heroics after their unfancied men's team made it to the round of 16 at the World Cup last year.

With no big-name players, Graham Arnold's Socceroos relied on grit and team spirit in Qatar but the Matildas have global superstar Kerr and an army of green-and-gold fans in their corner for the World Cup co-hosted with New Zealand.

Australians may struggle to name more than a few top women footballers but Kerr is on the lips of every passing fan and her face on billboards in every major city.

The country's most prolific striker with 63 goals in 120 appearances, Kerr is also a magnet for global brands and became the first woman on the cover of EA Sports' FIFA, the world's most popular