KYAH Simon never doubted that she could return to the international stage.
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It was a case of summoning the desire to put her body through the work required.
In the end, Simon's love and passion for the game - and the Matildas shirt - won through.
The silky-skilled attacker will line up for the Matildas against Vietnam at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday.
Victory in the home-and-away series will book the Matildas a spot at the Tokyo Olympics, and Simon a second appearance at a Games.
The achievement would also make up for the disappointment of missing the 2019 World Cup in France.
Simon was a late withdrawal from the squad after her body failed to handle the rigors of a rushed rehabilitation from ankle surgery in January of that year.
"The last twelve to twenty-four months was tough for me in terms of football," Simon said. "I wasn't in good shape due to injury. I had ankle surgery in January 2019. That set me back. Then there was a race against the clock, putting my body through immense load, and I ended up with some soft tissue injuries as I was pushing the boundaries for the World Cup. That wasn't meant to be."
She returned for Melbourne City in round two of the W-League and made 10 appearances, scoring four goals, when recalled into the Matildas squad for the last round of qualifying.
She started in a 7-0 rout of Chinese Taipei, scored a brace in the 6-0 thrashing of Thailand and provided an assist for Emily Van-Egmond's group-topping equaliser against China.
"I don't think I ever doubted that I could do it again," Simon said. "It was more a case of do I want to keep putting myself through that. What prevailed in the end was my love and passion for the game. I said to myself, 'I'm only 28 years old, I haven't finished yet'.
"When you put things into perspective, the good times trump the hard times and it is all worthwhile.
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"Once I started to get some minutes under my belt for Melbourne City, at about the mid-point of the season, I started to feel a little bit more intuitive on the field and was able to execute what I wanted to execute.
"That doesn't really matter unless you do it in the Green and Gold. I did start to feel like I was getting back into good form in the past few games and started to feel more like myself. I'm hoping to build on that."
Simon made her debut as a 16 year old in 2007 and has 90 international caps including a trip to the Rio Olympics, where the lost on penalties to the host nation in the quarter-final.
"You never really forget the big games you lose and when you are knocked out of any major tournament," she said. "But it is a new squad, it's a new team in general. We know where we were four years ago and we know where we are now."
The Matildas will start hot favourites against Vietnam, who they have beaten in the past seven encounters.
"I don't read too much into previous results," Simon said. "I know that we have played them previously and got some good results but they could be a completely different team.
"You can never go into a game being complacent or thinking you have won the game before you have even started. That is asking for trouble.
"As a squad we are focusing on how well we can play."
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