Amber Barrett has never been afraid to move out of her comfort zone.
The Donegal 27-year-old has had an interesting career, moving from Peamount United to Germany - for spells with FC Koln and Turbine Potsdam - and, most recently, Belgium. Barrett joined Standard Liege last week after a tough season with Potsdam ended with relegation.
Ireland are currently preparing for a first ever appearance at a World Cup because of her famous goal in the play-offs against Scotland, but Barrett is not resting on her laurels.
She's one of 31 players in Vera Pauw's training camp squad for Thursday's friendly against Zambia, with the manager due to announce her final 23-player squad for Australia on 29 June. The stakes are high.
"I said on the first day, you can definitely see there's a wee bit of... not tension, but everybody here wants to be one of the 23. It's not easy," she said.
"There's people who've been around the block for many years who are more than likely going to be left out. That's just the way it is. I would not like to be Vera Pauw for the next two weeks because we do it all the time hypothetically, who could go.
"Six or seven times you get to the 23 and it's different people. All of them could go. Competition is good, it's healthy. There's no bitterness here. At the end of the day it's up to you. You have the chance to prove yourself. After that you just have to hope that Vera gives you the nod."
Barrett was frank about her desire to move on from Potsdam and aired her excitement at playing under highly rated boss Stephane Guidi at Standard Liege as a summer of change looms.
"Honestly, I just needed to get out of Turbine," she said. "It's a very, very big club with a big history in Germany, one of the best women's teams.
"You know, I have a lot of respect for a lot of the people there because they want the best for the club. I hope that now they've gone down that they go back up again next year. But I needed to get out of there.
"Liege were on to me at Christmas and I had said, 'no I'm going to hold it out' because I believed that we could have got something out of the league. But just to feel wanted and valued again in a team, that's just something you want.
"At the end of the day I don't care what league I'm in, I want to be playing. It's no good playing in a top league if I'm sitting on the bench every week in a team that's losing. I think I have more self-value than that and so to be honest with you I'm delighted."
Her strike against the Scots has been selected as Goal of the Year at this evening's FAI International Awards, so Barrett's place in Irish football folklore is secure, but she wants to add another chapter Down Under. The desire to earn a place on the plane is ferocious. More ambitions must be realised; more big moments enjoyed.
"I've said it a hundred times, I think the goal was brilliant and I'm very happy to move on with it as long as I get to the World Cup," she added.
"It's no good to me now thinking back on it. Like, of course it was a very special moment, but I want to be one of those 23.
"I just love challenging myself with a new language and stuff. I have to learn a wee bit of French. I don't know if yous know any multilingual Donegal people but we are few and far between!
"It's nice to learn a new language and be able to test yourself. The coach [at Standard Liege], he got women's coach of the year in Belgium this year. Honestly, going into work under a great coach is really exciting, somebody that will push me and try to push me on as a player. That's what's you want.
"You want to improve. If you can't get better then what are you doing? I can't wait to get stuck in with that but hopefully, Australia first."
Meanwhile, FIFA must make sure equal conditions are in place for all players involved in qualification for the next Women's World Cup, world players’ union FIFPRO has said.
A FIFPRO report published today found huge variance in conditions across the qualification events run by each of the six global confederations, with some found to be "not up to the standards of elite international football".
A survey of 362 players hailing from all six FIFA confederations found 29% were not paid at all for participating in their qualification events.
54% did not receive a pre-tournament medical examination, 70% did not receive a pre-tournament ECG and 39% did not have access to mental health support.
Two-thirds of the players surveyed had to take leave or unpaid leave from another form of employment to participate in these tournaments, the report found.
31% said training pitches were not of an elite standard, while 32% said match day pitches and stadia were not of an elite standard.
Two-thirds said recovery facilities were either not of an elite standard or not provided at all, while 70% reported that the gym facilities were not of an appropriate level.
Watch Republic of Ireland v Zambia on Thursday night from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, or follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app
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