EMILY van Egmond is not daring to dream about Tokyo and playing at a second Olympic Games.
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Her focus - and that of her Matildas teammates - is on beating Vietnam at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night in the first leg of the final qualifying stage. They travel to Vietnam for the second leg next Wednesday.
The winner secures a place in the 12-team tournament in Japan.
"It's hard to look at anything beyond these two games because they are such important games," van Egmond said on Tuesday.
"We know it is do or die. We just have to win."
Vietnam finished second in their group, behind South Korea, in the previous stage of qualifying and are ranked No.32 in the world, 25 places below the Matildas.
"They are not a top-ten team, but we are going to take them as a top-ten team," van Egmond said.
"If we stick to our game play and stay confident, I definitely think we will be able to get the job done.
"In saying that, every game is a challenge. We have to come out here and put our best foot forward and play the best football we can."
Van Egmond scored a stunning injury-time equaliser for a 1-all draw against China in the final group game to seal top spot for the Matildas and the easier assignment against Vietnam rather than the sterner task of meeting South Korea.
The decisive goal, followed a hat-trick in a 6-0 rout over Thailand and continued a rich vein of form.
"We did well to top our group, to get the draw against China ... I know the girls are raring to go against Vietnam," van Egmond said.
Van Egmond was a part of the Matildas squad which suffered a heart-breaking loss on penalties to Brazil in the quarter final at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
However, she said the disappointment of that campaign had passed.
"Four years is a long time to keep reflecting on that," she said. "We have done really well at other tournaments since .... right now we are just focused purely on Vietnam Friday night."
A proud Novocastrian, van Egmond left the Jets to join Melbourne City for this season's W-League.
"It was tough," she said of the decision. "That's football. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions. At the moment I am very happy being in Melbourne. I am in a very competitive environment down there. If you look at our team, it is an international team so you are getting pushed every day."
Van Egmond expects Vietnam to play "defensively" away from home.
"We obviously want to make a statement here on home soil," she said. "I know the girls are up for it."
