The Football Ferns are taking some harsh lessons from their humbling loss to World No.1 USA last week and hope to learn more in their remaining friendlies.
The US women's national team comfortably beat the Kiwi side 5-0 in their international friendly in St Louis on Friday afternoon but striker Rosie White told TVNZ FC it was a good wake-up call.
"You're in for a bit of a rough ride with those internationals against the US," White, who earned her 100th international cap in the loss, said.
"It was a pretty tough game - but for us to compete against the best teams in the world, we have to be physical."
The Football Ferns still have warm-ups against more top talent as well with Mexico up next and an encounter with England to also look forward to before the World Cup.
Captain Ali Riley told TVNZ FC each match is a crucial step towards the tournament in France.
"All these great teams that we have warm-up games against, [coach] Tom [Sermanni] has a very specific plan for why we're playing them and what we hope to take out of these games," Riley said.
The pair of Football Ferns veterans had plenty of praise for Sermanni, saying he has bought into and added to the team's culture since coming on board.
"One of the most important things about this team and what has gotten us through everything is the culture, who we are, how we identify ourselves and Tom understands 100 per cent," Riley said.
"He also has so much experience coaching women, who knows our opposition, he's been familiar with our players for a decade or so and I think he's so professional - he knows how to get the most out of us while still keeping the culture we had before he came."
The duo added the squad is heading to the World Cup with a clear picture of what they want to achieve.
"We want to win a game, that's the first goal," Riley said.
"You can get out of the group obviously if you win more than one game or get more points - that increases your chances."
The team next plays Mexico tomorrow at 7am NZT before two final friendlies against England and Wales next month.
Their world cup campaign then kicks off on June 12 against the Netherlands with their two other pool matches against Canada and Cameroon.
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