With victory secured, and another goal notched for Sam Kerr, Matildas coach Alen Stajcic withdrew his star player deep into added time during the Tournament of Nations opener against Brazil.
Her replacement was left with little time to make any kind of impact, but the switch was nevertheless significant – the record books will show that Mary Fowler came on to make her international debut aged just 15 years and 162 days.
In doing so she became the fifth youngest player to feature for the Australian national women’s team, just behind Kerr, who debuted for the Matildas in 2009 when she was 12 days younger. Sharon Wass still holds the record after taking her bow as a 14-year-old against New Zealand in 1981.
Youngest @TheMatildas in A international games:
— andrew howe (@AndyHowe_statto) July 26, 2018
14y 240d Sharon Wass 1981
14y 343d Kelly Golebiowski 1996
15y 133d Jenna Kingsley 2007
15y 150d Sam Kerr 2009
15y 162d MARY FOWLER #BRAvAUS #GoMatildas
Fowler’s rise to prominence has been meteoric. Currently playing in the NSW Women’s NPL, the Bankstown City striker made her debut for the Young Matildas only in March.
But an impressive haul of 10 goals in six outings at the AFF Women’s Championship in Indonesia earlier this month convinced Stajcic to give her a late call up into his squad for the tournament in the US.
Her introduction was a further indication of Stajcic’s willingness to blood inexperienced players at the highest level – Fowler joined another uncapped teenager in the 21-woman squad after 16-year-old midfielder Amy Sayer was included.
Ellie Carpenter, who has also made the trip to the US, became the first player born this century to play for the Matildas when she debuted in Japan at the AFC Olympic qualifying tournament in 2016.
Despite Fowler’s appearance in Kansas City, uncertainty over her future international allegiance remains as the Tournament of Nations would not tie her to Australia. Born to an Irish father, the Cairns-born player would still qualify for Ireland.
Her brother Quivi and sister Ciara have already represented Ireland at youth level and she indicated last week she and her siblings wanted to play for the same country.
“I want to play for Australia, but obviously Ciara and Quivi have played for Ireland,” Fowler told AAP. “And we all want to play together for the same country. Family is really important to me, it’s important to all of us. I’m not in any rush to make that decision right now, I’m only 15, so we’ll see.”
The Matildas’ 3-1 win over Brazil, ranked one spot above them in Fifa’s world rankings, puts Australia in a strong position going into Monday morning’s (AEST) clash with hosts and world No 1 USA. Stajcic’s side will also face Japan, who they lost to in the Asian Cup final, next week as they bid to defend the title they won at last year’s inaugural event.
