There is no bigger game in tournament football than the first. After a four-year wait, the opener can be quite overwhelming; it’s the game everyone is talking about for weeks, even months beforehand. “Don’t look any further ahead,” they say, but even that makes it difficult not to play the game in your head before you’ve even taken to the field.

Four years is a long time in football, especially so given the comparatively short history of the Women’s World Cup; this is just the eighth edition, and the most widely anticipated one to date.

Expectation was in the air in Paris as hosts France flew out of the blocks with a dominant display against Korea Republic on Friday, before other European teams followed suit in claiming three points; Germany, Norway, England and Spain all proclaimed Europe’s rise and, as painful it is to say, Italy joined their esteemed company with victory over Australia.

The Azzurre have proven themselves as one of the waking giants of Europe over the last two years. An intense culture and obsession for the game, coupled with increased investment and respect for women’s football, is a powerful combination for future success.

For the Matildas, it was as nervous a start to a tournament as was possible. Ante Milicic’s side were fortunate to be ahead at the half-time break, and simple errors in possession and a questionable defensive intent to continually push a high backline gave the Italians a growing confidence that culminated in a deserved injury-time winner.

It left the Matildas in shock, even despair, in the immediate aftermath, but Sam Kerr was quick to attempt to turn the big disappointment on its head. The Matildas captain was assured in her post-game comments saying, “It’s only the first game”.

That simple truth is all it takes. I remember feeling similarly after my experiences with the Matildas in 1999 and 2003. As much as you acknowledge the significance of the occasion, the match is also done and dusted. The result is not going to change.

Even though there was less expectation on us back then, we still believed we could win. You don’t step out into the field unless you do. And when we didn’t win, it felt as shocking and empty as this match did. The hole feels deep and dark; it’s not the feeling you dream of when imagining playing at a World Cup. No one and nothing prepares you for that.

And yet it’s also within the players to rise up and realise it’s not a hole at all. Before you know it, it’s a new day. And there are still two more group games to make a decisive impact on this tournament.

The players will not only dust themselves off but have their teammates covered as well. Isn’t it through adversity that the greatest strength is found? It’s in the losses, not the wins, that the most is learnt. You pay more attention. You have to, because you do not want that feeling again. You’ll do anything to avoid it, to taste glory instead.

This is what awaits the Matildas. It may have been a pre-tournament marketing hook, but following defeat to Italy the line “never say die” has perhaps become more fitting than ever. They will be expected to rise again, not just individually, but as a team too. Brazil should be warned.