GOLD COAST, Australia -- The first act of the Matildas' marathon international window has come to a close with two defeats at the hands of Brazil.
Last Thursday, Amanda Gutierres announced herself with a double to steer Seleção to a 3-1 victory in Brisbane, spoiling Clare Polkinghorne's retirement send-off. The contest was fierce, and the yellow cards were seemingly left at home as the referee's control of the game became the major talking point of a bruising contest.
Then, on Sunday, Hayley Raso scored in front of her hometown crowd, but it wasn't enough to get a win on the Gold Coast with the Matildas going down 2-1 in the second match.
The game was no less physical but early yellows for some blatant fouls ensured the game never reached fever-pitch as it did in Brisbane.
Typically, this would be the end of the window for the national team but two more games -- against Chinese Taipei -- await. The change in opponent will also bring a change in the squad with eight European players expected to return to their clubs, replaced with A-League Women's stars.
While the Matildas still wait for their new head coach and officially transition into a new era, it is hard to know what to expect and what to look for when watching them play. This window is about the little things, and there were plenty to note.
Caitlin Foord is a star
It's not particularly controversial or groundbreaking to say that Foord is a great footballer, but that talent has been amplified by her surroundings across these two games. In Brisbane, interim Matildas boss Tom Sermanni managed to jam-pack six defenders into his starting XI. Despite this, Australia's defence was quite porous.
It had a knock-on effect up the park with a dysfunctional midfield and threadbare attack meaning the Matildas looked out of whack for large swathes of the game.
Yet while the team's set-up may have been a little stilted, Foord was everything, everywhere, all at once; scoring Australia's lone goal, trying to provide and finish chances, as well as tracking back to snuff out attacks in an all-action 90 minutes.
The Arsenal star backed it up in the first half of the Gold Coast came, in a much more supported role, and provided the assist for Raso's goal.
Both displays reinforced what has been pretty clear for almost two years now: Foord is the most important player in the Matildas attacking line at the moment.
The Matildas-Brazil rivalry is still strong
If this is how the Matildas and Brazil play in a pair of friendlies, imagine them facing each other in a major tournament.
For many fans, these two games were a reminder of the fierceness of the rivalry between these two nations. Though they haven't played a game in three years -- or a major tournament match in five -- there is certainly no love lost with memories of Moncton, Rio, and Montpellier flooding back.
For others, this was a first taste of the rivalry. They were introduced to the physicality of these contests, the theatrics of the Brazilians, and their sublime talent, too.
At a time where there is such a focus on the lack of permanent head coach, a must-win major tournament on home soil a bit over a year away, and questions about where the Australian national team is going and how they're going to get there, these two friendlies were 180 minutes of living in the moment and getting swept up in the drama. Football is fun.
A taste of what's to come
While Sermanni is only an interim manager, one of his great strengths as a coach is finding, and blooding, new players, drip feeding them into the core group. Across these two games, he did exactly that, incorporating new and fringe players into his starting lineups, giving them significant minutes to really test them.
Although the results weren't what anyone wanted, Sermanni zoomed out when asked about it postmatch on the Gold Coast.
"The important thing of these games is for us -- I know everybody looks at the result -- but from my perspective, what you're looking at is you're looking ahead of what the team might look like come Asian Cup time, for example," he said.
"I think tonight I saw some promising signs from players that probably haven't had a lot of game time."
From debutant Natasha Prior to Daniela Galic and Sharn Freier, plus Winonah Heatley in the first game, all of these players showed more of what they could be.
"This is what's so important for us, and this is what we haven't done enough of over the last few years, is we've got to put these players in, we've got to put them in an environment, if we can, that's going to be testing, and it's going to be challenging," Sermanni added.
"We need to push these players. We need to create competition within the squad, and hopefully in the next week, we may find another one or two."
Thanks to the squad composition, even more players are likely to get debuts or significant minutes against Chinese Taipei that they wouldn't otherwise get. In the process, Sermanni may uncover some gems, and it may prove to be his most important contribution to the eventual 2026 Women's Asian Cup campaign.
Thanks, Polks
At the end of this window, Polkinghorne will retire from international football. A Brisbane girl through and through, the match at Suncorp was earmarked as a celebration of the most capped Australian footballer of all time.
While she hasn't been a regular starter in a while, she has given 18 years of her life to the national team.
Ask any Matilda to speak about "Polks" and the affection and admiration is palpable. She commanded respect and defences like few others and loved to bob up with a goal at crucial moments.
An all-time great celebrator, Polkinghorne is a player who hasn't just seen the growth of women's football but has actively changed it for the better. She will no doubt continue to do so in her next chapter.