The Matildas can cross off another international window as they move towards the 2027 Women's World Cup.
After a 4-2 loss to Germany and a 7-1 thumping of Haiti, the countdown clock reads 252 days until the tournament starts, and four international windows to go.
A mixed bag of results means mixed takeaways from these two games for the Australians and coach Joe Montemurro.
On one hand, the Matildas were pretty outclassed by Germany despite putting out the strongest available XI. It was a lineup that boasted over 1,000 caps of international experience and many of the same tried and true combinations that at their best are unstoppable, and at their worst are uninspiring.
On the other hand, the Matildas ended the window dominantly, against a lower-ranked opponent, but fielding a closing XI which had under 300 caps, over half of which belong to Caitlin Foord. It was the young and emerging Matildas which put the clamp down after an even first half.
How much of the disappointment from the Germany game do the team and the fans take on board? How much of the excitement from the Haiti game do the team and the fans take on board? The answer for both is somewhere in the middle.
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Midfield decisions
The midfield setup for these two games was incredibly different with Clare Wheeler being the constant across both games.
Against Germany, the combination of Wheeler, Emily van Egmond, and Amy Sayer struggled. Against a vastly different opponent, the triumvirate of Wheeler, Leticia McKenna, and Alana Murphy brought energy and zip. Neither trio was perfect, taking into account the contexts they operated in, but the excitement generated by the latter is not worth nothing. So too is Wheeler's role in the team.
For years she has toiled away on the edges of the Matildas squad. A couple of starts would be followed by cameos off the bench or no game time at all. Every time she has been asked, she has done what is required of her position. In the Haiti game, she committed a professional foul to impede a Haiti counterattack.
Former Matilda Grace Gill said on commentary that Wheeler "[took] one for the team" in a line that almost perfectly sums her up as a player. Meanwhile, the performances of Murphy and McKenna were the most exciting parts of this window. McKenna continued her great start to life in a Matildas shirt, bagging a first-half brace against Haiti to give Montemurro's team the lead heading into halftime. Murphy was industrious in the centre of the park. Acknowledging the gulf in class between the window's two opponents, the younger midfield options did enough to earn starts against Colombia in the next window.
Young guns taking their chances
Before the window began, Montemurro highlighted three names: Murphy, Daniela Galic, and Hana Lowry.
"They're names I want you to remember, because I really do believe they're going to be the next generation of midfielders," he said.
And while Lowry did not take to the park in this window, the other two grabbed their opportunity with both hands. In fact, the pair combined for goal No. 5 in the Haiti game in one of those glimpses of the future that makes Matildas fans excited about what's to come for this team.
Latching onto a scuffed cross from Foord on the left, Galic advanced into the box with the ball. The 20-year-old is enjoying an unreal season in Sweden where she currently leads the golden boot standings but was swarmed by blue Haitian shirts, toe poking the ball to Holly McNamara at the top of the box. McNamara, with her back to goal, laid it out for a waiting Murphy who watched the blue mass move towards her, leaving Galic open. She sent the ball in that direction with her first touch, with Galic doing the rest, neatly curling the ball around an outstretched Naila Louissaint.
It was a well-worked goal, orchestrated by the next generation of this time, in a perfect example of what a Montemurro-coached team should look like. Tick, tick, tick.
McKenna and McNamara both scored two goals, the former twice against Haiti, the latter once in each game, further highlighting that the new core players are starting to find their feet.
World Cup consequences
It sounds obvious but the World Cup is far away until it's not. And with under a year to go and less than a handful of windows left, teams have well and truly entered preparation mode.
It's genuinely hard to tell if the Matildas are in the best possible position for this stage of the journey. Both the wins and losses come with caveats that make extracting the nuggets of usable truth harder to sift through and examine. All in all, across the two games, there's no reason to be reaching for the panic button.
But there's no need to order the World Cup winners memorabilia either. It would be remiss to ignore the absences of both the Matildas and particularly Germany. Australia are a different proposition when the likes of Mary Fowler and Kyra Cooney-Cross are available. Steph Catley and Ellie Carpenter both played the first game but did not take part in the second. Katrina Gorry is on a break from football. Alanna Kennedy and Charlize Rule missed the window entirely.
But when it comes to a World Cup you simply can't plan to have all your best players available -- the Matildas of all teams should be acutely aware of that after the 2023 World Cup.
The hope is that you have created enough depth across the park to be competitive, that the players available can play the role well enough. While there are some concerns at centre back, the situation isn't dire.
The return of Charlotte Grant unlocked another option that can be used on either flank. The performance of the midfield against Haiti has surely given Montemurro some food for thought about what combinations he used in the future of the park. The biggest concern remains up top.
While the Matildas had five different goal scorers against these two opponents, the insistence on running out Kerr, Foord, and Hayley Raso feels short-sighted. Other wingers and strikers need to be found and given the time to show the Matildas don't have to rely on those three veterans. But time is running out.