Paris 2024: Mary Fowler ready to headline the Matildas

Mary Fowler knows it’s time for her to take matters into her own hands.

And more importantly, the 21-year-old sensation believes she can do it.

After making national headlines with flashes of brilliance at her first Olympics in Tokyo, Fowler has become the Matildas’ attacking linchpin.

With Sam Kerr sidelined, Paris appears to be the stage to conquer for Fowler with the creative forward arguably the face of Australia’s most recognisable team.

“The first one was a bit different because I didn’t expect it and it was a childhood dream of mine to go to the Olympics, so I was in tears to have achieved that,” Fowler told AAP.

“This time I am more focused on tournaments, on football.

“I want to go out there and I want to win, and I want to help the team as much as I can.

“I feel like I can help more than last time when I was more of a backup.”

Coach Tony Gustavsson has made it clear: he wants the ball at Fowler’s feet, whether it’s on the wing, as an attacking midfielder or as a striker.

“It’s part of the growth I’ve experienced,” Fowler said.

“Before, I was perhaps a little afraid of having this responsibility.

“Because if you don’t perform, then it’s like, ‘OK, well, you have to take responsibility for not doing what the team needed.’”

“Now I see things a little differently: if someone puts pressure on you or gives you a little more responsibility in the team, it’s because they believe in you and they think you’re actually capable of doing it.

“So I take this as a pat on the back.

“I want to keep this level, be consistent and do what I can to help the team win, without being afraid of that.”

Fowler has come a long way from the kid who grew up playing football with his four siblings on the beaches of far north Queensland and talked about his desire to become the best player in the world.

Stints in Montpellier and Manchester helped him achieve his goal.

“With the amount of travel I’ve done, growing up and even during my football career, I’m perhaps a much more open person to the world,” she said.

“In the long term, I probably wouldn’t live in Cairns – it’s too small for me now – but it’s nice to go back and reminisce about the past, see the ground we used to play on and then think about where I am now.

“I know what success would look like for me and I don’t really care anymore what other people think about my success, my potential or whether I should be getting good grades at that point.”

Fowler’s rise coincided with the Matildas’ catapulting into the national spotlight.

But her confidence comes from her experience at Manchester City, where she had to bide her time before forcing her way into a star-studded starting XI – and shining.

“It probably came from playing at City and just wanting to be a lot more consistent and saying to myself, ‘I can be a player who can change a game in an instant’ and just believing in myself – and then going out on the pitch and having consistent performances to prove it,” she said.

“It helped me a lot.”

Fowler hopes that determination will see Australia through group matches against Germany, Zambia and the United States and secure a medal in Paris, after the “horrible feeling” of finishing fourth in Tokyo and at last year’s World Cup.

“Honestly, being knocked out in the group stage is probably better than finishing fourth,” she said.

“Because fourthly, you’re so close, but you just haven’t managed to win a game.

“It’s definitely fresh in people’s minds and it really helped us want to do better this time around.”