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The Matildas have officially named the team for the 20-24 Olympics.
Eighteen players and four travelling reserves will be jetting off to Paris next month.
The Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission, Anna Meares, has described those selected as a team full of trailblazers and history makers.
"It's a special honour to be a part of the Australian Olympic team, to stand side by side proudly with athletes from 35 other sports, all united under the umbrella of the Australian Olympic team."
The team will travel to France without long-term captain Sam Kerr, who scored six times at the last Olympics in Tokyo.
Coach Tony Gustavsson says despite her physical absence, Sam will remain a major support.
"Sam is always with us. Always. No matter if she’s physically present or not everyone knows that she’s there. Right now her focus is her rehab and make sure she has the support she needs from the club and from the national team and I know that she will support us no matter where she’s at."
He also says versatility was a key consideration when choosing the team, which is smaller than a typical World Cup squad made up of 26 players.
Defender Steph Catley is stepping up as captain and says she is confident the streamlined team has what it takes.
"There’s a couple of fresh faces, a couple of stalwarts, a very familiar team but yeah I think the way we’ve been playing over the last year or so, we’re in a really good place, we’ve still got a fair bit to work on before the Olympics but that’s always sort of the process, you don’t want to be peaking right now you want to be peaking in a month when we’re about to play our first game."
Catley will be guiding four first-time Olympians including World Cup Quarter final hero Courtney Vine and Clare Wheeler.
Wheeler clinched the opener in yesterday's two-nil friendly victory over China.
"Being my first Olympics it’s always a privilege to represent Australia but the thought of going to an Olympics to represent Australia is something else and it’s always been a dream."
The match against China doubled as a farewell to retiring Lydia Williams.
Her career has spanned almost 19 years through which she has stood witness to the Matilda's historic rise.
Before the match, the 36-year-old was given a guard of honour by players, staff, and family and friends.
She was also presented with a cloak made of red kangaroo skin embroidered with symbols of her home and family by fellow Indigenous sporting legend, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley.
Although it's not all over yet, Williams will have one more shot at Olympic glory as she's been named in the reserves.
The team will open their campaign the day before the Opening Ceremony on July 25th against Germany in Marseilles [[mar-SAY]].
The Matildas achieved their best finish at an Olympics when they placed fourth in Tokyo three years ago.
This year they're hoping to go one better.
"We’ve said every time that when we go to major tournaments we want to compete for medals, we know we’re not the top-ranked team, we rank nine out of twelve teams in this tournament if you look at world ranking. We have a lot of injury issues as you know as of late but this team is all about performing when we’re there and considering that we played two semi-finals and two bronze medal games the last two major tournaments this team wants something tangible. "
Something the whole nation is also waiting for, as fans hold on to hope for gold.
