Karen Carney will collect her 100th cap on Sunday when Wembley stages its first England women's international but a far greater prize is locked in her sights.
The playmaker has predicted Mark Sampson's team can win the World Cup in Canada next summer, burying memories of their sorry Euro 2013 group-stage elimination.
"I think so," Carney confidently told Press Association Sport, when asked if England could lift the trophy.
"I believe we've got a great squad, I believe we've got a good manager and I believe we've got a great support staff. We're all moving in the right direction."
Carney, at the age of 27, has already played five major summer tournaments for England, going closest to silverware in 2009 when after knock-out wins over hosts Finland and Holland the team bossed by Hope Powell were overwhelmed 6-2 by Germany in the European Championship final.
Germany, who retained their European title last year, again pose the opposition in Sunday's friendly. The world's second-ranked side, a sliver behind the United States by FIFA's reckoning, present England with their toughest challenge of manager Sampson's reign, which began in December.
Carney portrays the current squad as credible challengers to the world's elite.
"I think it's a more rounded team," she said, "and it's in a stronger position mentally and physically.
"If I get out there on the pitch it will be a special moment for me personally but I just think it'll be a special moment for the team - to be the first England women's team to play at Wembley."
Carney has appeared at an array of primarily Football League grounds in home England matches, with Wembley out of reach until the Football Association proposed this weekend's showcase.
Targeting an attendance of 30,000, the FA reluctantly halted ticket sales once they soared to 55,000 a fortnight ago, mindful nearby London Underground line closures could cause travel chaos.
Carney would relish more Wembley outings, having tasted the atmosphere when playing for Great Britain in the victory over Brazil at the London Olympics, before over 70,000 fans.
But as she recognises: "That's something we can't control. I've had a great 99 games at other venues. Hopefully there's plenty more times that we can play at Wembley and this won't be the last."
Carney made her international debut as a 17-year-old, coming off the bench and scoring in a 4-1 win over Italy at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes in February 2005.
"I remember it vividly," she said, "from the warm-up to the moment I went on, to the song that was playing when I was warming up at half-time - Run DMC's It's Like That."
Tricksy prompting behind England's strikers has seen Sampson label Carney an "incredible football talent, in my eyes one of the best in the world".
As Carney puts it: "He seems to have got the best out of me, and that breeds confidence - something I've lacked in the past.
"He's given me the belief to go on the pitch and express myself and play to my strengths, and not to be too worried about weaknesses - literally just to go and have fun. I've loved every moment I've played under him."
The desperate denouement of Powell's 15-year reign in Sweden last year may have been a necessary nadir.
"Everyone has to go through a transition period," Carney said. "Hopefully we've gone through ours and come out of it stronger.
"We'll give it our best shot against Germany and if we get the right result that's fantastic, and if not we've got six months to get it right for the World Cup."
Source: PA
