The April international window marks the two-year anniversary of Tony Gustavsson's first games in charge of the Matildas.
Beyond the sentimentality of being the first games, there isn't much worth remembering from the pair of European friendlies back in 2021. Limited in his squad selections due to COVID protocols, the Matildas lost 5-2 to Germany and 5-0 to the Netherlands.
Ten goals conceded in two games created more than enough discomfort, even allowing for a thorough understanding of the mitigating circumstances that explained the poor results. They were heavy defeats by world-class teams in games for which Gustavsson, his players, and the fans had waited seven months after the Swede's appointment in September 2020.
Throw in the announcement that Australia would be co-hosting the World Cup and Gustavsson declaring "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think that was possible" when asked about the Matildas' chances of winning a home World Cup, and the pressure was already sky high.
"A coach for the Matildas is always going to be pressured," Gustavsson said after those matches in April 2021.
"And if you lose two games, when we concede five goals in both games, of course you're going to feel pressured. But that's a part of being a coach, and I am ready to go through that because I know we need it. And I hope as many people as possible around me, is with me on that process.
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"I actually said to some people even before this camp, especially with the COVID situation, with player availability and the selection going into this camp, it's even going to be a more challenging situation than I thought to begin with.
"It was going to be a challenge, even if we had the strongest team and everyone available for selection. But we can't shy away from that, because that's exactly what this team needs."
The process, the selection challenges, and necessary tough tests, have been pertinent throughout Gustavsson's tenure.
While 'trusting the process' has become a cliche, the journey that Gustavsson and the Matildas have taken has arguably been even more challenging, testing and exhilarating than any could have imagined.
The pressure on the Matildas has fluctuated and contorted through the past two years, the team subjected to a seemingly never-ending parade of 'biggest tests.' The highs of the fourth-placed finish at the Olympic Games were just as extreme as the lows of the quarterfinal exit at the Asian Cup. Among the poor results were solid debuts and defensive lapses, glimpses of glittering football and painful profligacy.
Through the past three windows, in which the Matildas have won all seven of their games, positives have seemed, finally, to outweigh negatives. Alex Chidiac says that is due to a simple, boring reason.
"It's just more time together," she told ESPN's The Far Post podcast.
"We've had to learn a whole new style of play and new philosophy from Tony, and then you kind of only get 10 days to learn that and then you go back to your club... and it's a pattern like that, on and on.
"And at the beginning, it was bringing in lots of new players. So there's a lot of different changes and people coming in and out. And I think over the past year-and-a-half, two years, it's kind of been a lot of familiar faces, a lot of people [who] really know what's going on, and have been put into those situations on the field against obviously very challenging opposition.
"And now we're kind of seeing the reward for that; good things take time. And I think everything's starting to click together."
Things must continue to click as the Matildas approach their next biggest test so far: Scotland and European champions England.
The team must do well against the Lionesses, in particular, to truly prove the progress of the Gustavsson-era Matildas in the past two years; this doesn't necessarily mean they need a victory, but any sort of defensive capitulation or toothlessness in attack will be debated harshly little more than 100 days from the World Cup.
As in Gustavsson's first window, and every window since, the Matildas must contend with injuries to key players; this time Australia will be without Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord, providing another test of the team's depth and, perhaps, the best litmus test yet of whether they can match the world's best teams.
Above all else, the Matildas must show they are nothing like the team that shipped 10 goals against Germany and the Netherlands two years ago.