Women's World Cup Countdown: What's in the news ...

• by Soccer America , Mar 27, 2019

1. New Australia coach Ante Milicic called in 16-year-old Mary Fowler for the Matildas' match against the USA on April 4. Fowler has three caps for the Matildas, but she turned down a call-up from former coach Alen Stajcic last fall after he made remarks critical of her family, which has moved around Europe in search of opportunities for Mary and her sister Ciara and brother Quivi, who play for Ireland internationally at the youth level.

2.  France dropped Marie-Antoinette Katoto for its final friendlies before its Women's World Cup team will be named. Katoto, who scored in France's 3-1 win over the USA, leads the French women's league with 18 goals, but the 20-year-old forward was passed over in favor of Guingamp forward Emelyne Laurent for games against Denmark and Japan in April. Head coach Corinne Diacre, who had been critical of Katoto's work ethic before the U.S. match in Le Havre, said she wanted to take a look at Laurent and insisted that Katoto remained in the player pool.

3. It's better late than never for Cameroon, the only Women's World Cup finalist that hasn't played this year. The Indomitable Lionesses are headed to China for a four-team tournament and their first international competition since the 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. They will play Croatia on April 4 and the China-Russia winner on April 7. A team has been training in Yaounde but only playing boys teams and local amateur teams.