When Clare Hunt capped off her extraordinary rise by leading the Matildas' defence at the Women's World Cup, Alana Cerne couldn't help but dare to dream.
During the past year, the Western United centre-back has enjoyed her own meteoric rise from Victoria's NPLW competition to the A-League Women.
Cerne now hopes to follow in former Western Sydney captain Hunt's footsteps and make the leap from the national league to the national team.
"Honestly watching her play in the World Cup, she was a centre-back that you look up to, especially as a young Aussie that's had such a hard start to her career and could have taken off much earlier," Cerne told AAP.
"But now that she's got the opportunity, I'm sure she grabbed it with both hands and now she's playing overseas.
"That's a goal of mine and it's a goal of many that play in the A-League.
"So watching her play and stand up on a big stage, not only be a part of the team, but be a good addition and one of their main players is a great thing to watch.
"It's possible to get anywhere, it doesn't matter who you are, where you play or anything like that - if you work hard and do the right things and treat yourself as a professional.
"Things fall into place when you give 100 per cent and I'm sure there'll be plenty of other girls coming from the A-League into that Matildas squad - hopefully in the next couple of years."
A western suburbs local, Cerne had never represented Australia in youth national teams until her superb debut season with United.
The 20-year-old's whirlwind rise has delivered a Young Matildas call-up.
"It's been very quickly done," Cerne said.
"We had our first camp just after the grand final last year which was a domestic camp and then this year we went to Italy.
"It was a long trip for the short camp, but it was an amazing experience and playing against another country's 23s team is honestly a different experience altogether."
Former Canberra United playmaker Grace Maher has been recruited as Cerne's defensive partner.
"Grace is an amazing player and very creative and that works for us because we want to be creative and use our midfield," Cerne said.
"We've only just started playing together over the last couple weeks, but I feel we'll be a good partnership in there."
Cerne and United will attempt to kick on from finishing second and making the grand final in their debut campaign when they start their season with Saturday's away trip to Perth at Macedonia Park.
