US captain Lindsey Horan says she struggled to shake the burn of missing out on the 2019 World Cup final and will use that resentment as fuel for this year's campaign.
The highlight of the Women's World Cup group stage arrives on Thursday in Wellington, when the reigning champions face the Netherlands in a rematch of that decider.
The Americans won the clash 2-0 but without Horan, who watched from the bench as an unused substitute.
Horan had played in every US match at the tournament until then, starting each group game and the semi-final.
She told AAP her anguish at being dropped by coach Jill Ellis took months to shake.
"It was probably stuck to my stomach for like a year or two after the event because I just didn't really understand the reasoning," she said.
"It's hard to take in.
"Obviously you win a World Cup and everything is about that, but then later on you come home and you sit on your couch and you think about the fact that you didn't get into the World Cup final."
Eventually, Horan realised a winner's medal overcame the personal slight.
"At the end of the day we won so who f***ing cares you know? Excuse my language," she said.
In the four years since that final, Horan has emerged as one of the team's key leaders.
Named as captain by new coach Vlatko Andonovski, she has taken the No.10 shirt from the woman who wore it in France, and who was plucked as the final substitute ahead of her in the 2019 final: Carli Lloyd.
Lloyd said Horan may not have been captain in 2023 without that experience.
"That experience of having those tough challenging moments and having to dig deep, that builds leadership," she told AAP.
"She's evolved her game into such an integral part in that spine of the team.
"She is going to do everything she can to get this team into that seventh game and lifting that trophy."
The all-action midfielder is already playing with purpose at the 2023 tournament.
In the team's 3-0 win over Vietnam on Saturday in Auckland, Horan was the match's most influential midfielder, providing the key pass for Sophia Smith's opener before scoring the team's third.
Horan said she wanted to be undroppable as the US claims a third-straight title.
"I don't want to be in that situation again," she said.
"I want the role that I've dreamt of as a little kid.
"I want to be such an impactful player in this World Cup and I think I've really come into my own and shown that this past cycle with this team and what I can do."
The Netherlands also began their 2023 campaign with three points, albeit a less convincing 1-0 win over Portugal courtesy of a goal from defender Stefanie van der Gragt.
In other Thursday action, Portugal play Vietnam in a last-chance saloon for the two first-up Group E losers.
The clash in Hamilton precedes the return of the Matildas, who face Nigeria in Brisbane knowing a win will secure their passage to the round of 16.
