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Vera Pauw hailed Claire O'Riordan's display as the Republic of Ireland came from behind to beat Zambia 3-2 in the World Cup warm-up game in Dublin.
O'Riordan was on target for the Irish after their fellow World Cup qualifiers had taken the lead with Amber Barrett netting the Republic's other two goals.
Pauw said Celtic defender O'Riordan's performance exemplified the Republic's second-half improvement.
"The one you can see a huge difference in was Claire O'Riordan," said Pauw.
"In the first half she turned back because she was afraid of being put under pressure on the ball.
"But we said [at half-time] 'you have to trust yourself, you are so good, open and if you cannot go forward then it is time to go back, but not before you have opened yourself'.
"In the second half she said to herself that she needs to open her body and it was just night and day, fantastic."
O'Riordan is among those players hoping to make the cut for the 23-woman squad which will be announced next week and her display against the Zambians is unlikely to have done her prospects any harm.
Zambia took the lead in the 17th minute when Republic keeper Courtney Brosnan couldn't keep out a deflected Barbra Banda shot and the 77th-ranked visitors remained 1-0 ahead at the interval.
Pauw made five changes at the interval, including handing a debut to teenager Erin McLaughlin, with Barrett, Chloe Mustaki, Harriet Scott and Ciara Grant also introduced and it took only four minutes for Donegal woman Barrett to get the Irish on terms from the penalty spot.
"We came out of the dressing room in a way that was so good," added the Irish manager.
"The first sentence I said in the dressing room [at half-time] was 'if you have fear of failure you will not succeed, you must have the guts to make mistakes and the guts to fail'."
Pauw admitted that Thursday night's game had only made her final World Cup selection next week "even more difficult".
The Dutchwoman said earlier this month that informing players that they had missed out on the 31-strong training squad had been "devastating" and she faces more of the same next week.
"The pictures are clear but it doesn't make life easier," added Pauw.
Influential centre-half Aoife Mannion will have a knee brace removed on Monday before hoping to prove her fitness for the final squad which will be announced three days later.
