Kellond-Knight makes his national team return after 475 days
Elise Kellond-Knight makes her long-awaited return to the CommBank Matildas, with the midfielder last representing Australia 475 days ago in a warm-up match against Japan ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Tony Gustavsson has named a 24-player squad to take on our Sweden and Thailand in November to close out the year, and a familiar face made her return to the list.
After returning from a long-term knee injury, suffering a torn ACL while playing in Sweden in July 2020 with Kristianstads, the midfielder was then called into the squad for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but only appeared on the bench in the warm-up game against Japan and did not play in the tournament due to knee pain.
Kellond-Knight returned to Stockholm and had further surgery on his knee and once again began rehabilitation. She returned earlier this year for Hammarby and made her first competitive start at 769 days in August.
She spoke of returning to the high-performance environment for the upcoming window,
“It’s just another step in my rehab process. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the environment. So it’s going to be good to experience it again and see how it feels to get back in, I’m really looking forward to it.”
After returning from injury, the 113-capped Matilda progressed from making gradual appearances in the OBOS Damallsvenskan to playing full 90-minute matches.
“Yeah, it’s been a three-month period with big milestones. It took me a very long time to recover from this injury and it seems like the end of things just happened very quickly and then I was off and running.”
“Having my first 90 minutes last week was probably the last box to tick. I definitely felt every part of my body after that game, but now it’s just getting more minutes and being consistent. But now I have to do it a lot more times. “
Kellond-Knight’s return to the international fold could come against familiar opposition, and alongside players she has represented Australia with for over a decade.
“For me it’s just about experiencing again. So getting back into the group, seeing how I feel, how the group works and if I can contribute to the group. So it’s just for me, it’s about experience and enjoyment It’s a large part of it.
“I chose to keep playing football so I have to remember why I kept playing football and it’s kind of fun.”
A return to the national team playing against world number two Sweden is a full-circle moment for Kellond-Knight, who played in Sweden for three seasons with 33 games in the league.
SEVEN CONSULTING INTERNATIONAL SERIES
CommBank Matildas v Sweden
Date: Saturday, November 12, 2022
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off: 14:45 AEDT
Broadcast: Network 10, 10 Play and Paramount+
CommBank Matildas v Thailand
Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Place: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 7.30pm AEDT
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+