![Caitlin Foord and her Matildas teammates are looking forward following Saturday's 5-0 loss to Canada. Picture by Adam McLean Caitlin Foord and her Matildas teammates are looking forward following Saturday's 5-0 loss to Canada. Picture by Adam McLean](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/4sZx2UeLhML2LRYLyd2FGM/ef24bc7c-bfa6-4abd-a4e8-f60aef5ad106.jpg/r0_208_3020_1913_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Short-term pain for long-term gain.
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That's the mindset of the Matildas following their 5-0 mauling at the hands of Canada on Saturday.
Nichelle Prince set up the big victory with a first-half brace in Langford as the hosts kicked off their two-match international friendly series against Australia in style. It was the Matildas' first outing since their ground-breaking performance at the FIFA Women's World Cup on home soil.
However, it was a far different Aussie side on this occasion, as head coach Tony Gustavsson opted to blood plenty of youth in his starting side.
Caitlin Foord watched the entire game from the sidelines as she was given the chance to rest up. It remains to be seen if the Shellharbour talent is given a run in game two in Vancouver on Wednesday (AEDT).
While Saturday's contest was difficult to watch as an Australian supporter, Foord said that they had gained plenty of insight from the defeat as they started to ramp up preparations to qualify for next year's Paris Olympic Games.
"It was a tough game. (But) for us, these are games to build towards the bigger picture, which is the Olympics. Our next game is an Olympic qualifier (against Uzbekistan in February), so it's about learning and to have trial and error with new things," the 29-year-old said.
"He (Gustavsson) wanted to see the new players against a world-class opponent, with Canada being Olympic champions, so it was a good test for us and a good run for everyone. We were trying to trial new things, which in a way is a new playing style. And we haven't had many training sessions to do it, let alone a competition match against a top opponent. So I guess it's about seeing how that works.
"But it's just another style that we're able to play. Come the tournament (Olympics), it's important to be flexible with what game plan you have. So to have another one in our toolbox that we're trialling will be massive."