Perth International Football Cup: Matildas star Mary Fowler opens up about Olympic campaign

Mary Fowler has admitted the pain of the Matildas’ Olympic failure is still fresh, but vowed to use it as motivation as she eyes a big impact in WA this week.

The Manchester City star and Australian teammate Alanna Kennedy are in the frame to play in the opening match of the Perth International Football Cup on Wednesday night at HBF Park.

It would be the first hit-out for the pair at any level since the Olympics, when Australia were bundled out of the group stage after underwhelming defeats to Germany and the USA.

The disappointing results brought about the end of coach Tony Gustavsson’s tenure as coach, and painted a painful contrast to the highs of the Women’s World Cup a year earlier.

Fowler said the pressure in France had been very different to what they experienced on home soil and their failings were both technical and psychological.

“Probably a bit of both. There’s probably other things that went into there that could probably be improved,” she said.

“On a personal level, I definitely reflected on how I was mentally. It was a different kind of pressure that I had dealt with before.

“We definitely worked as hard as we could to prepare for the tournament. Sometimes football doesn’t go your way.

“Being at home and having that home advantage, it is very different playing at a home world cup versus being overseas.”

With a 2026 Asian Cup on home soil on the horizon, Fowler said she was motivated to make up for the Olympic disappointment by using her experiences as an opportunity to grow.

“It’s nice to have those experiences and know that, next time you get into that same situation, you’ll be able to deal with it better,” she said.

“It’s obviously a very proud moment being there this time around, I was really grateful for that experience, so definitely still trying to take positives from it as well.

“It is hard when you don’t succeed in the way that you want it to. It was a nice reminder for me that you’re not going to always have really big highs in football, and it’s good also to take growth from that and to use it for moving forward.

“I feel we all really want to win something with the national team. Having another opportunity to do that, I think a lot of us will work for the next year and a bit to try and get it done.”

For now, Fowler is parking all thoughts of the past and focusing on her immediate future, which starts with helping Manchester City go one better after they missed out on the Women’s Super League title on goal difference last season.

“I’m just focusing on getting in the best shape possible for our season, and then when national team comes around, I’m hopefully hoping that momentum picks up,” she said.