75, 31 and 23 - the numbers defining Pauw's month

Three numbers to define Vera Pauw's month: 75, 31 and 23.

Over seventy-five phone calls to inform players that they either were in or out of her World Cup training camp ahead of the 22 June friendly against Zambia.

Thirty-one players who recieved the good news that their World Cup dreams remain intact.

And twenty-three, the lucky group that will - on 29 June - be given the golden ticket to Australia for the tournament itself.

All of this has been further complicated by a European Clubs' Association [ECA] directive that players can only be released for international duty from 23 June.

FIFA are continuing discussions with the ECA as several countries push for a 19 June release date, but it means that Katie McCabe, whose club season only finished two weeks ago, may or may not be involved in the Zambia game. We still don't know.

Pauw is hoping for more clarity around that soon but she's had bigger headaches to contend with the last few days, as the agonising process of whittling her squad down begins in earnest.

"You have to make choices. I wish I could bring them all. We can't."

"Halfway I had to stop for a moment, to be honest," she said on Friday when asked about informing players they have not made the training camp.

"The players I called were disappointed of course, most of them had expected the call. It's devastating. I’m very much aware I have broken dreams and it will have an impact on careers also.

"We’ve not been taken this lightly as I said all the time. It’s elite sport. You have to make choices. I wish I could bring them all. We can’t. So believe it or not, with all the clubs and everybody on Monday, I had to make more than 75 phone calls.

"But the shift was done and I’ve called every single player again this week to see