Concern for Mary Fowler as Matildas star suffers injury ahead of Asian Cup | OneFootball

Uncertainty and concern surrounds the fitness of Mary Fowler after the Matildas star suffered a suspected knee injury while on club duty for Manchester City.

The Australian forward’s right knee twisted when stretching awkwardly for a loose ball early on during City’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United. Fowler stayed down for several minutes before attempting to continue, but soon had to be replaced.

City’s interim head coach, Nick Cushing, said he was concerned by the incident and that it was unlikely the 22-year-old would be able to shake off the knock easily.

“It doesn’t look great in the sense of adding her back into the training squad or to the injured squad imminently,” Cushing said. “We’ll have to wait, you don’t know about the turnaround quickly.

“I think it is the knee, but I don’t want to speculate or confirm. We’re not fearing the worst here, but ultimately, if you come off with knee pain, to turn it around in seven days [is tough] but I don’t know, I’ll leave it with the medical team.”

The blow comes with under a year to go before Australia hosts the Women’s Asian Cup. Fowler is expected to be one of the faces of the tournament on home soil which begins in March 2026.

Memories are still fresh of the Matildas losing a star player to injury before a major tournament – captain Sam Kerr sustained a calf injury just prior to the Women’s World Cup in 2023, forcing her to miss the first three matches.

Kerr is still working her way back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in January last year; she attended the Matildas’ camp for games against South Korea earlier this month, but in a non-playing capacity.

Fowler’s injury, if scans prove it to be serious, could keep her out for a similar length of time, meaning she could miss the Asian Cup. The Matildas are next in action with games against Argentina lined up for the end of May and early June.

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