Michaela Foster’s dreams of making the Football Ferns squad for their home Fifa Women’s World Cup have quickly become a lot more realistic, after the stars aligned for her to make a timely debut.

The Wellington Phoenix fullback received her first senior international cap in Hamilton on Monday night, less than two weeks after she initially missed out on a place in Jitka Klimková’s squad for this month’s friendlies against Portugal and Argentina.

Making the occasion extra special was the fact that she got to earn her first cap at Waikato Stadium, a venue that has “always felt like home”.

“I know not many people, if any, get to debut in their hometown, so I'll definitely remember this for a long time.”

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