Kellond-Knight: I honestly had no idea how much I’d been missed

• Elise Kellond-Knight spent over two years out after rupturing her ACL

• The veteran discusses contemplating retirement and her emotional return

• She believes the Matildas “can go all the way” at Australia & New Zealand 2023

Seven hundred and sixty-nine days. Over two years and a month. It’s approximately how long it took Captain Cook to be commissioned to search for Terra Australis, set sail from Plymouth, become the first man to cross the Antarctic Circle, and conclude that the continent Aristotle first hypothesized in 324 BC was a complete myth; Ludwig van Beethoven to write one of the most enshrined pieces of classical music of all time, Symphony No. 9; Voyager 2 to be launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral, approach Jupiter and begin its ground-breaking study of the Jovian moons; and Elise Kellond-Knight to spend out injured. The Matilda, who was named in the All-Star Team as a defender at Germany 2011 and as a midfielder at Canada 2015, ruptured her ACL in July 2020. Then, in attempting to rush herself back for the Tokyo Olympics – something she blames on being a “warrior-mode athlete” – her knee popped again. Kellond-Knight was in “excruciating pain”. Her knee required a complete reconstruction, with a piece of nerve and a chunk of floating material removed.

The free-kick specialist was unable to walk for six to seven months. If being a footballer unable to do her job wasn’t torturous enough, being an avid surfer – she was born a stone’s throw from Surfers Paradise along the Gold Coast – heightened the pain. Kellond-Knight somehow got through it. She made her competitive return for Hammarby last August. Now back in her homeland with Melbourne Victory, the 32-year-old chatted candidly to FIFA+ about her injury nightmare, considering retirement, an emotional return to the Matildas squad, Sam Kerr and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™.

It was a pretty savage injury. I’m still doing big parts of the rehab now. And yes, I definitely considered retiring. There was hopelessness in there. It wasn’t a normal injury, it went undiagnosed for quite some time. It was hard just working out what was going on. The thought of just trying to be a normal human being again, of being able to walk was what was on my mind. Football was well off the agenda for a large part of those two years. But here we are – never give up!

I’m doing an MBA, so a lot of study. I went through a long period where I couldn’t even walk – six, seven months – which is ridiculous. So it was finding a new identity basically. I’m such an active person. I love surfing. I couldn’t do anything I was used to doing. All of these things were off the table. It was about using my mind a lot – in a good way – developing as a person through education. I think I got pretty good at crosswords! (laughs)

As a proud Australian, it’s not going to get much better than playing in a World Cup in Australia, and I know what an amazing tournament we’re going to make it, but it wasn’t. Not this time. It started with an ACL injury in 2020. That was a year out from the Olympics. I was really keen to make it back for that Olympics. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I pushed it too much. I should have listened to symptoms I had. It ended up putting me in a really ugly scenario where I couldn’t walk anymore. I learnt from that. I realise that you can’t set yourself goals like that. Being the warrior-mode athlete can be very dangerous when you’re an injured player. There’s a time to be a warrior and there’s a time to listen to your body. So, no, this time round it was about taking it one day at a time and not thinking about the World Cup.

It was unexpected. I had the goal last year of being able to train, complete training sessions. When I returned to my club after doing part of my rehab, they were really keen to get me back on the field. It was super accelerated, a little bit high risk. It was almost so quick that I didn’t have time to process any of it. I think that was a good thing because sometimes you can overthink things, be hesitant. But I didn’t have time. It was like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going for it. Ok.’

We were in contact as soon as I started playing again. He was based in Stockholm, I was playing in Stockholm, so he was keeping tabs on me, watching me. We had a few discussions about when the right time would be to come back. I was really keen not to come back too early. I wanted time to get confidence in my body again and do the bits of rehab that I’d missed. It was really important to take these baby steps and not rush into it. Eventually, in November, we all thought that was the time. I didn’t get many minutes, but just being in that environment was important for me. So much changes in two years. The staff are different, the players are different. Getting a little taste of it all was really cool.

I honestly had no idea how much I’d been missed. A journey for an injured player is super isolating. You’re alone the whole time. You feel you’ve been struck off the radar and forgotten about. So to feel that and to see that made me realise that maybe I wasn’t on the journey alone all that time. It was really nice. I don’t play only for the fans, but they are a big part of the game, so it was really nice to feel appreciated.

All the way. I really hope we can put the performances forward we know we can. I 100 per cent – whether I’m there or not – hope we are in that final. World Cups are just so great. How good was it watching the men recently? Such great games, such unpredictable results. It’s going to be the same for the women this year. Who knows who’s going to be in that final. I know we’re going to give it our best shot and I believe the girls are good enough to be there.

I’ve known Sammy for a really long time, since we were teenagers on the national team. She’s become one of the best strikers in the world. It’s been amazing to watch her career and how she’s progressed. She’s incomparable to how she was as an 18-year-old – she’s developed so much. She’s improved her strengths and developed other parts of her game. I think she’s one of the best headers in the world. There’s no female who has the nous to get on the end of crosses and score headers like she does. She has a great striker’s instinct. She’s a great person as well.

I don’t think there’s one standout. I think it depends on the day. There’s a couple that are really progressing and developing. Sweden are one of the top nations, but we recently beat them on home soil. I think teams are going to realise how far it is to travel to Australia – I think they’ll work that out pretty quick. The top five sides in the world are always contenders, there are others who also are, and I’d definitely put Australia in there. When there’s a tournament on, Australians really get behind it, and hopefully this will work in our favour.

I surf, so I’m biased, but anything along the beaches would be my pick. I love the combination of being able to go for a surf and then visit a winery. There’s a couple of hotspot regions. I’m living in Victoria at the moment, so heading out to Mornington Peninsula you can stop at five wineries and then have a surf at the beach. It’s a pretty dreamy lifestyle. You’ve also got an indigenous culture you can get immersed in. That’s pretty fascinating.