Former Cairns junior Fowler named in the Matildas World Cup squad

Mary Fowler’s selection in the Matildas team for the FIFA Women’s World Cup was confirmed by coach Ante Milicic on Tuesday morning.

"Lisa De Vanna and Mary Fowler train with the Matildas in Denver, Colorado ahead of Friday's friendly with the United States. Credit: Tristan Furney (FFA)

Mary Fowler’s selection in the Matildas team for the FIFA Women’s World Cup was confirmed by coach Ante Milicic on Tuesday morning.

The youngest member of the World Cup team, Fowler joins a team headed by superstars Sam Kerr, Lisa De Vanna and Lydia Williams.

SEE THE TEAM HERE

A prodigious talent regarded as the future of Australian football, Fowler’s journey to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup started at Trinity Beach.

A young Mary Fowler (left) scores for Peninsula at the State School Soccer Championship held in Cairns, 2013.

A Leichhardt junior, Fowler plied her trade in the Far North until the family’s move to the Netherlands in 2015.

They returned to Australia at the end of 2017.

Leichhardt patron John Bomben first saw the athletic forward at Woree as a nine-year-old.

“She had God’s gifts,” Bomben told the Cairns Post after her Tournament of Nations debut last year.

“You’ve got to have a few things to be a good player. You need speed, balance, vision and an ability to get the ball.

“Mary had all of them but above all she had a will to succeed.”

Mary Fowler pictured with the ball during a match between Bankstown City Lions & Sydney Uni at Regents Park on Sunday March 10 2019. Mary Fowler at 16 is one of the rising stars in the Matidas team who is signing for Bankstown City Lions WNPL1. (AAP Image / Monique Harmer)

She was handed her Matildas as a 15-year-old last year, and will be the youngest member of the World Cup squad.

Fowler, who now plays club football for Bankstown City in NSW, most recently played for the Young Matildas, scoring five goals in an 11-1 belting of Nepal last month.

She completed her hat trick in the opening 15 minutes.

The World Cup, which will be held in France in June, presents another new challenge for the athletic forward.

The Matildas will play in Group C, with games against Italy, Brazil and Jamaica.

Originally published as Former Cairns junior Fowler named in the Matildas World Cup squad