In the course of winning a European title that few there will soon forget, the Netherlands played two teams that currently hold places in the top 10 of FIFA's world rankings.
The U.S. women's national team played seven such games in the span of little more than the past five months, yet most of us will struggle to remember the details a year from now.
Context is everything.
As much a collection of friendlies as a competitive event, the recent Tournament of Nations nonetheless offered at least a couple of moments with some staying power. There was Australia's victory against the United States in Seattle, the first win in the series by the surging Matildas. The Australians won't soon forget that. And with the U.S. women on the cusp of a second consecutive defeat, their rally against Brazil in San Diego necessitated three goals in the closing minutes. The Americans won't soon forget that.
But what happened in each of the United States' three games in the tournament -- as well as what happened earlier this year in games against England, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden -- is less important than what those games revealed about the team that could take the field in France in the 2019 World Cup.
That can be a tough sell when the United States already lost as many games on home soil this year, three, as it had in the previous 16 years combined. Those losses ran the gamut -- routed by France, outplayed by Australia and a touch unlucky against England -- but in no instance was the result unjust. Yet U.S. coach Jill Ellis is believable when she says the schedule yielded what she hoped it would. And not just because the team also beat Brazil and Germany at home and Norway and Sweden in those respective countries.
"As much as people expect consistency with this team, which I certainly aspire to, I also acknowledge that I've put our players into challenging situations that have been hard at times, playing with different lineups and formations," Ellis said this week. "But that's who I am. When I first took over the team in 2014, the message was even if you're on the right track, if you sit there you'll get run over. This period [between the Olympics and World Cup qualifying] was a big enough chunk of time that I felt we could get a lot of things accomplished.
"The veteran players have been pushed, and the young players have been tested."
Take the losses. In those three games alone, 21 players started at least once for the United States. Two formations were used in those games, neither employed in the team's two most recent games. Julie Ertz and Allie Long started at various times as defenders and midfielders. Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan started as midfielders and forwards. Andi Sullivan wasn't available for any of the games while rehabbing a torn ACL. Tobin Heath and Rose Lavelle were healthy and then were not. Megan Rapinoe wasn't healthy and then she was.
The suggestion is that out of the inconsistency born of absences, auditions and experimentation should now come a shift toward building something cohesive and, well, consistent. Putting aside the results, the Four Nations offered plenty of hints as to what that might look like.
Rapinoe was the defining American player in the tournament. Ellis said she planned in advance to start her in the opening game in Seattle, a no-brainer both because the city is the player's professional home with the NWSL's Seattle Reign and because few, if any, of those in that league had played any better this season. Rapinoe proved nearly impossible to take off the field because of her energy on both ends of the field, both mind and body fearless roughly 18 months after knee surgery.
"She was hot, she had a really good tournament," Ellis said. "And I'm really excited for her because she's worked incredibly hard. ... I think she's a casebook study of a player committing herself to the process."
As much as that influenced the recent games, think about it in the context of possibilities for 2019. The Dutch this summer put on a clinic as to how wide players can dominate games, picking apart opponents through Lieke Martens on the left and Shanice van de Sanden on the right. And with Rapinoe in form, there isn't a country in the world that can match a depth chart in that space that includes Dunn, Heath, Mallory Pugh and Rapinoe. The United States showcased that in scoring seven goals against Brazil and Japan out of the same 4-3-3 formation the Dutch utilized -- and which the U.S. women have used extensively in the past.
To play that aggressively asks a lot of those in the midfield, which make Sam Mewis' recent performances noteworthy. Mewis entered the year with six career starts for the national team. She and Becky Sauerbrunn are the only players to start all 10 games this year. And again, she earned most of those minutes against the best teams in the world. In that kind of immersion program, through ups and downs, she has grown from Olympic alternate to viable starter.
"It was a commitment to give her valuable minutes because our attributes are so good," Ellis said. "She's threading balls through, she's got a shot from distance, she's got a big diagonal ball. We think she's really emerged for us."
The same went for Lavelle during the SheBelieves Cup, mostly in wide roles but conceivably in her more natural central role as time goes on. The same went for Sullivan in four games last fall against Switzerland and Romania. Her promise is enough to remain very much part of the discussion for defensive midfield minutes, along with Long and Ertz -- whose versatility is both a credit to her and a product of Abby Dahlkemper's play at center back.
What the past year has produced, if not always wins, are pieces that now need time to fit together.
In her first exposure to the international level, Taylor Smith drew positive reviews from not only Ellis but Sauerbrunn. Still uncapped for the United States, Chicago Red Stars standout Sofia Huerta trained with the national team and is seen as a valuable prospect at outside back. Even Casey Short, while familiar in comparison to those two, is still new in the grand scheme of things.
"We've looked at a lot of different things in there," Ellis said. "In addition to our experienced outside backs, we feel like these players give us very interesting athletic and attacking-minded options that can also defend."
The schedule has more to offer, two games against New Zealand in September and then a home-and-home series with Canada, ranked fourth in the world, in November. And while European World Cup qualifying begins in a matter of weeks, the U.S. women will have much of next year before taking on that task. The roster isn't closed, to be sure. But there is a pivot looming, from looking for players to bringing together a team. To building consistency.
"As you start to build this, it's making sure that it's players that bring out the best in each other," Ellis said. "Player X might be the best outside back, but does that player help the best wide player be as good. So it's matching those combinations.
"It's selecting players who can bring out the best in each other."
There is, of course, one other roster question related to recent news. Earlier this week, while in the Netherlands, Hope Solo reiterated a desire to continue playing, including at the international level. She also repeated her assertion that the termination of her U.S. Soccer contract was related to her role in lobbying for equal pay. Solo was one of five players to file a complaint with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a list that also includes current co-captains Carli Lloyd and Sauerbrunn.
"Any player playing at a high level is available for consideration to the women's national team," Ellis said when asked if there was any scenario for 2019 that could include Solo. "But we're happy about where we are with our goalkeeping options."
A lot has been invested in finding those options all over the field. Whether or not the process, so different and with so many more opportunities for criticism, has been a success will be judged soon enough -- just not by the results this year.