The Matildas’ Olympics campaign is now on life support after an embarrassing first-up effort against powerhouse Germany.
The Germans ran rings around the Aussies in the 3-0 thumping, with several Matildas stars having very quiet afternoons.
The Matildas’ pool was dubbed the ‘group of death’ ahead of the Olympics … and now they have one foot in the grave.
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And fans took aim at the highly popular Mary Fowler after the young gun striker put in a shocker.
“Mary Fowler is such a frustrating player. Like many creatively brilliant players before her, she just blows so hot and cold,” one fan said on X (formerly Twitter).
Others said they barely saw Fowler throughout the game.
“Can Mary Fowler like touch the ball or something … I honestly didn’t even know she was on the pitch,” another fan fumed.
And another: “Horrible performance! Two worst players on the pitch are my two favorite players in the WSL – Mary Fowler & Alanna Kennedy.”
And another: “Poor first half. as usual, overrated Mary Fowler nowhere to be found.”
In a rare moment when Fowler did have an opportunity in front of the net, she ended up being dispossessed when she turned to fire in the box.
“Mary Fowler? More like Mary only had 3 touches this game,” another fan raged.
While another thought Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson was in part to blame.
“Tony does not know how to use Mary Fowler,” another fan observed.
Fowler, of course, was not the only one to blame for the humbling loss, and there was plenty of tension in defence as well.
At one point Alanna Kennedy flashed a tense look at Ellie Carpenter as Germany scored again to make the Aussies look silly.
Socceroos great Craig Foster said during the commentary that the defence was all at sea.
“Alanna and Ellie got themselves mixed up there,” he observed.
“Elie was going the wrong way and her defender has come in. Her body position, she wasn’t quite able to see.”
And commentator Amy Chapman was scathing.
“It was a lack of concentration particularly at that far post,” she said.
“It was a really simple chipped in corner and at the international level you do not concede those. A bit of ball watching at the back post.”
After the match Matildas captain Steph Catley did not single out players, but said the team’s performance wasn’t to her “standards”.
“It’s definitely a wake up call,” Catley said on Nine.
“That’s tournament football.
“We’ve got two more games and we’ve got to turn it around quickly.
“We’ve got a lot to learn from here. I think at times we were on top and we let two set pieces affect the game in a very negative way.”
The Matildas, who were fourth both in the Tokyo Games and last year’s World Cup, have a chance to redeem themselves in Nice when they face Zambia on Monday morning (3am AEST).
Zambia was beaten 3-0 by the US later on Thursday and the Matildas must win or else their hopes of making the quarter-finals could be quickly over.
They then play their final pool game against the USA on Thursday.