Alanna Kennedy Illness: Professional defender, Alanna Kennedy was ruled out of the Matildas’ semi-final due to illness. The team made a heartbreaking announcement before the game began. What exactly happened to Alanna Kennedy?
Why Is Alanna Kennedy Not Playing?
Fans of Football were caught by surprise when Kennedy’s name did not seem on the final team sheet. She was ruled out from the game after her doctor declared that she is suffering from a serious illness.
In the wake of the 3-1 semi-final loss to England, Coach Tony Gustavsson received the news at lunchtime on Wednesday, only hours before kick-off against England, that Alanne Kennedy would not play in the game.
“At lunchtime today (Wednesday), we got a notice from the medical team that Alanna was ruled out,” he added.
Tony Gustavsson further clarified, “It seems to be one of those tournaments where curveball after curveball is thrown at us,”
What Happened to Alanna Kennedy?
The 28-year-old player, Alanna Kennedy is suffering from a serious illness and the news came out 90 minutes before the match began. She is replaced by the player Clare Polkinghorne in the starting lineup.
Matilda Coach said, “Clare Polkinghorne is very experienced, mentally has no problem stepping in to play the game, but the challenge for her was she hasn’t played a game for a very, very long time (and is) coming back from injury – so it hurt (having) the limited game time and limited training time coming into this tournament.”
Kennedy has been a heroic presence at the back for Tony Gustavsson’s side throughout the tournament, leading a high-handed defense to help Australia to their first-ever semi-final appearance.
Sam Kerr also returned to the beginning line up but failed to make an impact.
Alanna Kennedy Illness: Is Alanna Kennedy Injured?
The Lionesses star has got a mysterious illness during the semi-final. She has been injured several times in football history. She previously got heavily injured on her hamstrings and calves. But after treatment, cured of her injuries, and back to playing on the ground.
