Sam Kerr act for England captain comes to light after Matildas' World Cup heartbreak

Sam Kerr has made a habit of giving her jersey away after Matildas games at the Women's World Cup, as we saw in a beautiful moment after the quarter-final when she gifted it to a young fan in the crowd. But on Wednesday night it was England captain Millie Bright who was afforded the honour.

Kerr and Bright play their club football at Chelsea together and have formed a special bond over the years,. They shared a lovely embrace before kick-off in the semi-final on Wednesday, and Bright was seen consoling Kerr after England's 3-1 win.

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But what the cameras didn't capture was the moment Kerr and Bright swapped jerseys - a customary gesture that frequently occurs in football. Bright was seen wearing Kerr's shirt when speaking to Channel 7 after the game.

“I’ve been after this shirt for a long time,” Bright said. “She is an incredible player and world class.

“She gets one moment and it’s in the back of the net. In football, we always have huge amounts of respect for our opponents and some of our opponents are more than that, they are friends as well.”

Bright lauded Kerr's ability to come back from a calf injury that saw her miss the first three games of the Matildas' campaign. “Huge respect not only for the (Matildas) team, but for Sam as well, my teammate back home,” she added.

“It’s hard, as much as she is the enemy out there tonight, she is a really good friend. I am really proud of her journey and having her injury and being able to be out there tonight.”

Kerr said she was gutted over the Matildas' loss, but happy for her great mate Bright. “Millie is one of my best mates in the whole world,” she said.

“It sucks for one of us and I would have much preferred to play her in the final. She is my best mate at Chelsea. As much as it sucks, I wish her all the best and I hope she can win it (the final).”

Sam Kerr devastated after Matildas loss in World Cup semi-final

Kerr scored an absolute screamer to draw the Matildas level at 1-1 in the semi-final, but was left devastated that she'd missed a much easier chance not long after when England were up 2-1. "There was only a couple of moments in the game and I guess they took theirs," the Aussie captain said.

"I thought it was honestly pretty even and from where I was sitting it kind of ebbed and flowed each way but after we scored I thought we were going to go and score another. Then they kind of took momentum back so I guess it felt like it would have been a great game to watch honestly from where I was.

"All I can think about is disappointment right now. I think that's kind of the only thing that's keeping me smiling right now, is the way that we've inspired the nation, everyone's got behind us.

"The tournament's been amazing, every single team, player, person that's visited has said how beautiful our country is. So I think for us, it's been hopefully life-changing for women's football in Australia."

Kerr and the Matildas will now turn their attention to the third-place playoff against Sweden, which will take place on Saturday at 6pm (AEST). Considering her calf issues and the amount of minutes she played on Wednesday night, it remains unclear how coach Tony Gustavsson will utilise Kerr in the bronze-medal match.

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