As current Asian Cup runners-up and Tournament of Nations champions, the fourth-ranked Matildas enter their slew of tournaments this year as favourites. Their young, exciting squad has winning experience, and knows they can beat the world's best.

In the growing phenomenon that is Australian women's football, their stock of exciting youngsters is also continuously replenished. Ellie Carpenter, Alex Chidiac and Princess Ibini are just the beginning.

So what do the Matildas have to fear? Well, according to Kerr, expectation isn't easy.

“Any time we get the opportunity to play for the Matildas we want to win,” she said.

“It’s preparation, but that doesn’t mean we’re taking it lightly. We play three great teams and hopefully we can compete in the final.

“I think we perform better being the underdog, but even though we’re going in favourites we still have that underdog mentality and I think that’s really worked for us. 

"We’ve really made the most of being the underdogs by surprising teams and surprising the public, too — not everyone thought we were as good as we are and now we’re fourth in the world and everyone is taking notice.”

The Matildas enter the Algarve Cup as the highest-ranked side, but will face stiff opposition from the likes of Norway, Denmark, Canada and perrennial rivals Japan. 

“We came fourth last time, so we’ve got a bit of work to do, but I’m excited for it. I love going to Portugal and I love playing for the Matildas," Kerr said. 

“We’ll be disappointed if we don’t win. I think we’re going in favourites, too, which is a new challenge for us."