The Matildas forward only took a matter of minutes upon her introduction to take a ball effortlessly in flight, shimmy past a baffled Kiwi defender, drag the keeper out of position and hammer a clinical cross-goal effort into the back of the net.

It was the Matildas' clincher after Emily Gielnik's opener in a convincing, if not entirely vintage, 2-0 performance over New Zealand.

But it opens up a world of possiblities for Raso, who has now shot firmly into the reckoning for the Women's World Cup, perhaps even a substantial role.

Unsurprisingly, however, Raso is simply content to be back playing the game she loves.

"I think it was just overwhelming for me," she grinned.

"I just wanted to come out and keep getting minutes under my belt. It definitely builds my confidence, but just getting out there, getting minutes and playing well.

"Ante (Milicic) just told me to come out, enjoy myself and follow the game plan. But he's a fantastic coach and he's doing really well."

The performance throws up a variety of potential selection headaches for Milicic, whose high-tempo, quick-passing style was evident from the get-go. Despite appearing off the bench, whether the likes of Lisa de Vanna, now 34-years-old, make it to another World Cup seem less certain than ever.

And while the result bodes positively for the debutant coach, Milicic will be concerned with a proliferation of loose back-passes and his side's general susceptibility to route-one counter attacks. The Matildas next Cup of Nations opponents, Argentina and South Korea, will likely pose a very different threat from a cautious New Zealand side, which only had two days to prepare under a similarly new gaffer, (ex Matildas boss) Tom Sermanni.

The Matildas now face South Korea in Brisbane, before Argentina in Melbourne to round off the three-game Cup of Nations, before a final pre-World Cup hitout against the United States.