Mary Fowler will return to the Matildas squad for the SheBelieves Cup after sitting out international friendlies on home soil late last year to refresh mentally and physically.
The star forward has been named in Australia’s 23-player squad for the tournament to be held in the US later this month, while captain Sam Kerr and World Cup hero Cortnee Vine were not considered.
Fowler has struck a rich vein of form since opting to withdraw from the Australia squad for friendlies against Brazil last November with five goals and three assists in her past five WSL matches for Manchester City.
“She’s playing very well, she looks on top of her game, she looks fit, she looks healthy,” Matildas interim head coach Tom Sermanni said. “She looks like she’s enjoying her football.
“She’s still some ways away from what I would call reaching her prime. She is already a world-class footballer. A football career is a journey, in many ways, and she’s on a really good trajectory on that journey at the moment.
“I want her to really step up in the national team and, if you like, lead by how she plays in the games. That’s important, but it’s also important for us to remember that she is getting good experience at the moment, but she’s still, in relative terms, quite a young player.”
Matildas captain Kerr has again been left out of the squad to allow the 31-year-old to continue her rehabilitation from a serious knee injury. Her absence is unrelated to her appearance in a London court on Monday charged with causing racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress after a night out in January 2023. Kerr has pleaded not guilty. The trial continues.
“She’s still injured, she’s not ready to play again yet,” Sermanni said. “I had some video of her and her physio over at Chelsea last week, doing some fairly strong running, so she’s in the process of coming back.
“But I would still suggest, from an injury perspective, it will probably be sometime in March before she’s back on the field.”
Midfielders Katrina Gorry and Clare Wheeler have also been recalled to the squad alongside forwards Kaitlyn Torpey and Holly McNamara, while Laini Freier has received her first call-up.
Freier, twin sister of injured winger Sharn, has been rewarded for her red-hot form with seven goals in 10 A-League Women matches this season including a hat-trick in her first start for Brisbane Roar.
Vine remains unavailable for Matildas selection despite returning to training with NWSL side North Carolina Courage after also taking a break from football to focus on her mental health last year.
“It’s just important for her to get club football under her belt, get back playing again, get back the love of the game, for want of a better expression, and hopefully when she does that, then she’ll be ready to come back into international football,” Sermanni said. “At this stage, she just feels both mentally and physically not ready to come into camp.”
The Matildas will kick off their SheBelieves Cup campaign against Japan on 21 February before facing the USA and Colombia later in the tournament.
Matildas squad
Goalkeepers: Mackenzie Arnold, Chloe Lincoln, Teagan Micah; Defenders: Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Charlotte Grant, Winonah Heatley, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Natasha Prior; Midfielders: Kyra Cooney-Cross, Emily van Egmond, Daniela Galic, Katrina Gorry, Clare Wheeler, Tameeka Yallop; Forwards: Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Laini Freier, Michelle Heyman, Holly McNamara, Hayley Raso, Kaitlyn Torpey.
