There are 321 days to go before the first game of the 2023 Women's World Cup.
For those of us who don't work in international football, that amount of time — just over ten months — feels like a luxurious stretch, offering plenty of chances to get things done.
But for those who do, like Matildas Head Coach Tony Gustavsson and his Canadian counterpart Bev Priestman, it's barrelling towards them at a very different pace.
"Everyone talks about 'it's almost a year to the World Cup,'" Gustavsson said, speaking on the eve of Australia's friendly game against Canada in Brisbane on Saturday.
"But we actually broke all the FIFA windows down and we have five FIFA windows, that means we have 46 days.
"Out of those 46 days, 14 days go to travel and recovery. That leaves us with 32 days. Out of those 32 days before the World Cup roster is announced, it's going to be 11 games and 11 pre-game sessions.
"That leaves us with ten proper training sessions; ten sessions where we can play 11 v 11 and work on all the details.
"That's how soon we're going to announce a roster [before] coming here and preparing for the World Cup.
"So it's around the corner. Every minute counts."
Injuries frustrate
This is why, with some frustration, it was revealed ahead of the Canada game that three senior players — vice-captain Steph Catley, Tameka Yallop, and Caitlin Foord — were all deemed injured.
This was in addition to the late withdrawal of Hayley Raso, and the ongoing recoveries of Kyah Simon, Ellie Carpenter, and Chloe Logarzo.
Two more players — Sydney FC winger Cortnee Vine and West Ham goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold — are also being monitored, with Jada Mathyssen-Whyman called up as a potential third-choice goalkeeping replacement.
The Matildas aren't alone in this, though.
Canada, who are currently ranked 7th in the world and qualified for 2023 after finishing runners-up at the CONCACAF Women's Championships in July, will also step out onto the field missing a host of senior players.
"I don't think you could write this stuff," a deflated Bev Priestman said.
"After every injury that came in, you're starting to think that the world's against you.
"We're now starting the World Cup journey with probably six, seven starters missing [but] there's massive opportunity for anyone who steps on that pitch, she said.
"We've had some other obstacles around players two days later getting in because of flights and picking up knocks and things. These are all things of international football now, with the calendars being so tight.
"I think we just have to be together, collected, and try to put some things in place to help the team be prepared and get in the right mindset, because the mindset when you're depleted like that is probably the most important thing."
While their reputation has been built on their defensive resoluteness, Canada will be without most of their best defenders for this series.
That includes almost their entire first-choice defence of Kadeisha Buchanan, Vanessa Gilles, Ashley Lawrence, Allysha Chapman, and Jayde Riviere.
These players anchored the team in their recent qualifiers, as well as during their gold medal run at the Tokyo Olympics.
On the one hand, these particular absences almost defeat the purpose of the Matildas playing Canada.
Australia have historically struggled to break down well-organised defensive teams, so the prospect of facing a Canadian side who have conceded just five goals all year was an enticing one, particularly with attacking talent like Raso, Kerr, Simon and Foord potentially returning after a four-month break from international duty.
Instead, the absence of these players has shifted the focus.
Experiment expected
Like we saw against Spain and Portugal in June, a more experimental Australian side is expected to take the field on Saturday in what will be yet another test of the squad's depth and versatility.
But with just eight wins and six draws in the 24 matches they've played since Gustavsson took over, observers have begun to get restless; not for results necessarily, but for reassuring signs that the core group of players are progressing.
While the midfield is largely accounted for with the return of Mary Fowler, Katrina Gorry, Emily Van Egmond, Clare Wheeler, Aivi Luik, Alex Chidiac, and Kyra Cooney-Cross, it's the top and tail ends of the field where Australia may struggle.
The last time the Matildas faced Canada, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, it took just 20 seconds for Canadian winger Janine Beckie to find the back of the net after a turnover by a young Alanna Kennedy.
Canada went on to win that game 2-0 after a goal by captain Christine Sinclair in the 80th minute.
The absence of Catley and Carpenter — the Matildas' two starting full-backs who have become integral in their attacking as well as defensive phases — is glaring, and means their respective understudies Courtney Nevin and Charlie Grant must now step up to fill those voids.
The same anxieties permeate the front line, where outside of Sam Kerr, the only natural attackers available for Saturday's game are fringe players Larissa Crummer, Emily Gielnik, and Princess Ibini-Isei.
This is perhaps why Canada's low defensive stocks could become Australia's saving grace as a makeshift front line takes on a makeshift back one.
But regardless, Gustavsson is still clear on what he wants to see from his side and expects his style and philosophy to be unchanging.
"I want to see what we saw in large chunks against Brazil," he said.
"I want to see what we saw in the last 30 minutes of the first half against the USA.
"I want to see what we did against New Zealand, but I want to see us doing that against a better team.
"Against New Zealand, there were a lot of things that was starting to come into [fruition]: a lot of variations, central combination, wide combination, transition, controlling the game, but also high pressing with transitions.
"But I want to see it in longer spurts of the game, not just fifteen minutes here or five minutes there. I want to see a solid performance over 90 minutes."
One of Gustavsson's favourite mottos is "one day better".
According to his timeline, he's got just 32 of those left. Now begins the task of making each one of them count.
