CommBank Matildas captain Sam Kerr said that her first start on home soil in 763 days was an opportunity for her to get back to the core reasons she enjoys football - to have fun.
Kerr was speaking at the post-match press conference alongside Head Coach Joe Montemurro after the team's 2-0 victory over New Zealand on Tuesday evening.
"It was just nice to be back at home, on home soil and have the crowd behind us and be here for the preparations for the Asian Cup," she said.
"I think sometimes we lose sight of why we play football, and tonight just felt like one of those moments where I could really go out there and enjoy it and have fun."
She revealed that playing on Tuesday was always the plan, despite not quite being fit enough to start in the first game of the series on Friday.
"I was always planning to play," she said.
"I would have liked to have played the first game, but it just came too quickly on the Friday night. If the game was on Saturday, I probably would have played. I just hadn't had enough sessions under me before Friday night.
"Coming off a small calf injury, it probably wasn't worth it. At halftime, I was still trying to play 10 minutes - I'm looking at him [Montemurro], but it wasn't his fault.
"I wanted to stay on and play longer, but it was taken out of my hands. That's probably the best thing, because I would have played on and who knows what would have happened. So the right decision was probably made."
She felt her performance was a good one in front of home fans.
"The Wales game away last camp, I was bit rusty, a bit nervous," she recalled of the team's 2-1 win in October.
"I was feeling a bit on edge. Then I thought in the England game, even though we went down to 10, I felt more like myself. So I knew tonight, I just needed to go out there and have fun and enjoy myself.
"I felt good. I thought when I did get the ball, I did well with it. 45 minutes is really hard for any player to make a huge difference, but I was happy with how it went."
Kerr explained that despite the minor setback, she was hoping she would be match fit and ready to go come the Asian Cup.
"This was just a little hiccup," she said.
"I was planning to come to this camp and play two 90 [minute games]. I played my first 90 with Chelsea a couple of weeks ago, and then a couple of days later, had this [calf issue]. So it was just bad luck.
"I didn't have any signs that this was going to happen, and I planned to come here and get as many minutes as possible. Come February, I hope to be able to back up 90 minutes again and again and again."
Like her teammates, Kerr can't wait for the tournament next year, and hopes to replicate the success that the team had at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™.
"We wish it was next week, too," she said, echoing her coach's sentiments.
"It's a really big tournament. We want to go as far as we can. The main focus now for all of us is just to stay fit and ready for the Asian Cup, and we're all excited from the success of the World Cup and how we felt being in the World Cup.
"It was special, and something that we'll never, ever forget. So we're kind of hoping that we can replicate that feeling at the Asian Cup."
She wouldn't put a number on what the team expected out of the tournament, but said the team would take it one game at a time.
"The expectation, for us, is just to focus on the next game and not get too far ahead of ourselves," she said.
"To get fourth at the World Cup is a pretty amazing achievement for an Australian team, so I think we handled it pretty well at the World Cup. But it's a whole new tournament. It's such a different tournament playing Asian Football, and there's so many great teams. So it's going to be tough."