Manager Mark Sampson has vowed to make his expansive experience count as England Women attempt to get their World Cup campaign back on track.
At the age of 32, Sampson is the third youngest boss at the finals in Canada, but he has spent almost half of his life building towards this moment.
Saturday sees England take on Mexico in Moncton, with the boss of the Lionesses attempting to outwit a touchline rival in Leonardo Cuellar who played in a men's World Cup before Sampson was even born.
Cuellar appeared in midfield at the 1978 World Cup for Mexico, who tanked desperately and lost all three of their group games.
Sampson, at the height of his playing career, had a spell at full-back with Cardiff Corinthians.
While 63-year-old Cuellar has the high-profile background, Sampson is confident a more unusual learning curve has primed him to lead England to success.
"I wanted to be successful within the game and work at the highest level possible and clearly that wasn't going to be as a player," Sampson said.
"Coaching was an opportunity to work in the game, learn more about it and work with the best possible players I could."
He took the first step with a degree in sports development, before in 2003 joining the Football Association of Wales Trust as a coach co-ordinator, rapidly progressing to a full coaching role and later lecturing YTS scholars at Cardiff City.
In June 2007 he landed the plum role as centre of excellence manager with Swansea, who were under the management of Roberto Martinez. He also became part-time manager of Taffs Well, a team he led to a runner-up finish in Welsh League Division One, all the while developing new skills and understandings.
In September 2009, Welshman Sampson stepped into the women's game, becoming head coach of Bristol Academy, a college-affiliated team he led to FA Cup final in 2011 and 2013. Bristol were also Women's Super League runners-up in 2013, before Sampson departed for England in December.
"A lot of players will finish their playing career and move into a management career and only have their playing experiences to fall back on," Sampson told Press Association Sport.
"The one thing I've been lucky enough to do is experience as many possible football scenarios as I could: whether that be as a player, whether that be as a coach working with young players, working with female players, working with male players, working with talented players, working with recreational players, working in youth development football, working in environments where it was all about winning, working in football environments where it was all about enjoyment, and working in environments where it was all about development.
"And I'm pleased I've got those experiences to reflect back upon and pull information from those experiences to give myself the best possible chance to make the right decisions for the players and the team."
England's 1-0 defeat to France in their opening match leaves little wriggle room, as Mexico on Saturday and Colombia next Wednesday await in their final two Group F fixtures.
Sampson is poised to make several changes to his line-up for the Mexico game, which England know they should win. Ranked sixth to Mexico's position of 25th on the FIFA list, England are likely to name an attacking formation, and Sampson had already decided on his starting XI before the France game.
His recent preparation has been meticulous, with a thorough dossier on Mexico informing his plans for the weekend tussle, but Sampson still draws on his amateur playing days.
"I enjoy playing the game and I had some great experiences and learnt a lot," he said. "I still reflect back on some of those experiences, which help me with how I work now."
Source: PA
