Republic of Ireland attacker Marissa Sheva is hoping her bright cameo against China will be enough to earn another call-up for April's mouthwatering double-header against the USA in Texas and Missouri.
The Philadelphia-born 22-year-old made her debut after she replaced Abbie Larkin at half-time on Wednesday, showing glimpses of her capabilities in a scrappy game.
Vera Pauw's team will continue their World Cup preparations with a pair of games against the Americans, at the Q2 Stadium in Austin on 8 April and at the brand new CityPark ground in St Louis three days later.
Sheva plays her club football with Washington Spirit in the NWSL. She's hoping to be making the three-and-a-half hour flight from DC to Austin in two months' time but is taking nothing for granted.
"It will be awesome for us," she said. "We want to play against the best teams in the world in order to prepare for the World Cup. No better test than the US, that will be awesome.
"They’re always going to bring it; they’re a really, really tough team. They’re consistently at the top so 2023 is probably going to be no different. They’re going to be a tough opponent."
Asked about her own prospects of featuring against the world No 1-ranked team, Sheva replied: "That’s a tough question. I hope that I proved myself enough in this camp but ultimately that’s all up to the staff. It would be an honour to put the badge back on and make another camp roster.
"I feel I did OK. We did a really good job of sticking to the gameplan and working in the pockets and spaces that we wanted to. The ideas are there, it's just execution, stepping stones, we’re getting there."
The three new faces in the Irish squad over the last week and a half - Sheva, Aoife Mannion and DA De La Harpe - have helped to freshen things up. There's intense competition of course, but Sheva has been taking a philosophical approach to the experience since she touched down in Spain.
"I had a ton of fun," she said. "This is a great group to play, a fun group to be around. These girls have so much international experience which definitely helped me, calmed my nerves a little bit. A lot of fun.
"From the beginning of camp, that was my goal, to prove I want to be here and that I can be a good team-mate on and off the field. I want to be here. I want to prepare this team as best as possible, whether being on the team or helping in this camp or fingers crossed another camp.
"It feels like I've been here for more than ten days because they’ve been so welcoming and made it easier to get into the football and not worry about anything else. Just focusing on getting better every day."
