Kirsty Fenton cried tears of joy last week when she was named in the Young Matildas team for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica.
The Blackalls Park 18-year-old's emotional selection follows an outstanding debut season in the A-League Women (ALW) with the Newcastle Jets.
It also comes after a lot of hard work.
"I definitely started crying," Fenton told the Newcastle Herald from Costa Rica on Monday.
"It's just been such a long journey. The preparation is exciting and intense but it's a long journey. When we were starting camps, that was about 180 days ago, and now we're match-day minus three.
"The preparation is so long and so hard, but now getting here, it's so exciting and it's crazy how quick things are going."
Fenton earned the Jets Rising Talent accolade after playing 12 ALW games for her home-town club last campaign.
The versatile defender then relocated to Sydney to make the most of a place in the Future Matildas (FM) program, which helps develop the next generation of Australia's top elite players.
"I decided to make the move after A-League W season," she said. "I live with a home-stay family in Baulkham Hills and it's pretty much full-time training with FM, training with my club team and working as well. I'm a very family-orientated person so it was hard leaving my family.
"But football-wise I knew it was the best thing for me to do, just getting in an uncomfortable position, pushing myself a bit more by leaving home for football.
"It's always been a goal and a dream of mine to keep wearing the jersey. I wore it in Junior Matildas and want to keep going that step above Young Matildas and strive to be with the Matildas one day.
"To be able to wear the Australian jersey and get this opportunity to play in a World Cup, after all that preparation and all that hard work, is massive to me."
The Young Matildas are in Group A with Costa Rica, Brazil and Spain and open their campaign against the host nation on Thursday at midday AEST.
"We're taking every team the same - no one's easy, no one's hard," Fenton said.
"We're going in with all guns blazing pretty much and wanting to come out with a result.
"[Young Matildas coach] Leah [Blayney] has been excellent with trying to push us to have the mindset of, no matter what, we're leaving everything out on the field for each other and trying to get her the result that we want."
That result is to be crowned world champions and Fenton, who came through the Emerging Jets program and now plays for North West Sydney in NPLW NSW, plans to seize any opportunity she is given to play.
"Everyone wants game time but overall, as a collective, we all want to come out with the gold medal," Fenton said.
"We want Australia to do well in this competition and show everyone in Australia what we can do and what women's football is becoming and how it's evolving every day."
The Young Matildas have not played at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup since 2006. Their games will be televised through SBS.
