As the old saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.
So as the women's national team makes final preparations ahead of the Cyprus Cup final against France on Tuesday, head coach John Herdman's approach seems particularly fitting.
"We've asked players to be very cold-blooded tomorrow," he told media on Monday. "There's still a lot of work to be done."
France, of course, took Canada out behind the woodshed at the 2011 Women's World Cup, winning 4-0. And while Herdman is definitely aware of that result, and of how dangerous the French team can be, he's not looking to dwell on the past.
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"We've tried to shift our focus away ... (we're) just looking at the future," said Herdman, who brought in a sports psychologist several months ago to help the Canadians overcome the disappointment of Germany 2011. "The big test in this one is the mental aspect (and) the pressure the French team can put on you."
Canada felt that pressure in Bochum last summer and buckled, often resorting to desperately sending the ball upfield. That fact isn't lost on Herdman, who said that his team's performance in their win over Italy at this year's Cyprus Cup -- a game Canada won on an injury-time goal from Robyn Gayle -- represented a bit of a "watershed moment".
"The team said, normally we would have launched it," said Herdman. Instead, "we had our team playing right out of the back instead of lumping things forward... We're starting to see a team that can play a better brand of football... the test for us now (is whether we can do it against a team like France)."
That's no small ask against a squad ranked sixth in the world and coming off a fourth-place finish at Germany 2011.
"We saw them beat the English up (on Sunday)," said Herdman. "They were able to close England down, beat them in 50/50 balls... can we impose ourselves on a team physically?
"Across the pitch they might be faster than us... bigger and stronger ... that's the test, when we play against those strong, world-class players, can we keep our resilience?
"If we can stay tight and compact, stick to our possession strategy, we could be alright."
It's a refreshingly frank assessment from a coach that has done hard work not only on the psychological side of things, but on the physical side, introducing new technology to the dressing room in order to more accurately assess his players' fitness and determine the areas of improvement. He says that in order for Canada to have a chance at earning a medal at the upcoming Olympics, and rejoin the echelon of truly elite teams, the squad can't have weaknesses at any position.
"The challenge is not to be the best in Canada," he said. "The challenge is to be world-class."
A medal performance in London could, in Herdman's words, make Canada "irresistible" to the organizers of the invitation-only Algarve Cup, a tournament that runs concurrently with the Cyprus Cup and which, this year, features four of the top five ranked nations in the world.
But for now, the focus is on the Cyprus Cup final, and the Olympic Games. Canada has two scheduled friendlies prior to the Olympics (against Brazil in Foxborough, Mass. on March 24 and against Sweden in Malmo on March 31), in addition to a planned "Olympic send-off" game on home soil, the details of which are yet to be announced.
"Time is running out and every detail needs to be worked out in these games," Herdman said of the Olympic run-up. "Moving into these next few games, players are really going to have to earn their shirts."
There would surely be no finer way for a player to cement themselves on the roster than with a solid performance in the final of the Cyprus Cup.