A day on from making history at Eden Park, Football Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova was still grinning like the full-time whistle had just gone.
She isn't the only one, apparently.
"It's so nice to see players still smiling and enjoying this moment because we've been waiting for this for a long, long, time," Klimkova said this afternoon.
Last night's 1-0 win over former world champions Norway was a piece of New Zealand Football history on multiple fronts with a record crowd of 42,000 watching the Football Ferns win their first-ever World Cup game since their debut at the tournament 32 years ago.
But it was also a moment for Klimkova - a coach who has faced plenty of questions after becoming the Football Ferns' first full-time female coach in 2021.
Heading into last night's game against the heavily-favoured Norwegians, Klimkova's record since taking over Tom Sermanni had been four wins, four draws and 16 losses, with the Ferns outscored by a combined 13 goals to 47 from the 24 fixtures.
And a lot of those goals came this year alone with blowout defeats to the US and Portugal at the start of the year, as well as a 3-0 defeat to Nigeria in April.
But through it all Klimkova challenged fans and players to keep the faith, backing a nine-week training camp in the build-up to the World Cup with her full squad as the key to turning things around.
She and her full-strength side silenced the doubters last night.
"We believed from the beginning and we prepared, we worked so hard for this moment and we stayed calm, we stayed focused and we believed - and we did it.
"It was well deserved."
It certainly was.
The Ferns pressed Norway at every opportunity and set the tempo of the game, eventually leading to a goal from Hannah Wilkinson at the start of the second half that proved to be the winner.
It's been a long time coming but the Football Ferns aren't satisfied with just one result at this year's World Cup. (Source: 1News)
Wilkinson said the goal was indeed one from the training pitch.
"As soon as I saw Jacqui [Hand] have it down there, I knew that the cross was coming and I was like, 'this is it, we're scoring, we're going up one-nil'," Wilkinson said.
"The second Jacqui got it, I said, 'this is going in because it has to'."
Klimkova added with a sly grin it was a "variation" of a move from training.
With the lead, the Ferns continued to take opportunities when they came but eyes started to turn to the clock as Norway desperately looked for an answer and when it reached the 90-minute mark, Klimkova joked seeing nine minutes of added time would be played was brutal.
"The longest 10 minutes in my life," she grinned.
"But honestly, we believed and we believed we could do it and the way we did was unforgettable."
Now attention turns to the Philippines next Tuesday at 5:30pm in Wellington - a side they beat 2-1 last year during a friendly in California.
Klimkova said the team will watch the Philippines' game tonight against Switzerland before ramping up their preparations.
"We've studied the Philippines - we've played them, we know them, we know them very well," she said.
"The preparation will be very similar to how we did it against Norway."
Time will tell if it produces a similar result.
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