They’re an awesome duo with the Matildas – now Kyah Simon and Clare Polkinghorne have teamed up with the Houston Dash in the US.

In Episode II of the Kickin’ It With Kyah podcast, Clare discusses the Asian Cup, leadership and life in Texas.

1:02: A tournament like the Asian Cup is very draining emotionally and physically. It was a good time for me to have a little bit of a break …

3:17: For us Matildas now, we play a lot of our game against boys and when we’re home we train with the boys. It’s the intensity of the play and having to think quicker, the physicality, it’s higher than when we play with girls …

6:00: I’ve been with the Brisbane Roar for 10 or 11 years now, so with the W-League I haven’t had to adapt to a new team or a different style of play. Joining the Houston Dash has been a challenge …

8:00: The competition is very close. There’s only four or five points between third and seventh … There’s no reason we can’t make the top four …

10:16: I was still in high school and for me it was all about playing football and having fun. I wasn’t thinking about World Cups or Olympics …

10:50: We’re now getting to a point where people can make a living out of football.  At the moment you have to go overseas to make ends meet but I think we’ll get to the point where players can play professionally in Australia. Maybe not in my playing career though …

12:50: Now we’re those people that our younger selves once looked up to. Hopefully the young girls look at us in the same light … Dianne Alagich was my idol …

14:22: That was the great thing about Tommy (Sermanni). He really saw the positive in young players and gave us opportunities at a young age …

16:10: Winning the Asian Cup was a massive thing for football in Australia. We were the first national team to win silverware at a tournament … I don’t think we realised the significance at the time …

18:50: Rio Olympics, quarter-final against Brazil, 66,000 Brazilian fans all rooting against us and maybe 100 of our family members in the stands. That game, even though we lost, is very memorable for me. The Olympics was something that had eluded us for 12 years …

23:00: Throughout my career, it’s never been something I’ve aspired to. I’ve never joined a team and thought, ‘I want to captain this team’ …

24:45: I’m more of an action-based leader I guess. I’m pretty shy and I don’t say too much, despite going on this 30-minute podcast. I’m very out of my comfort zone …

26:00: I was stoked just to get one cap. 50 was pretty special. To reach the hundred is something I didn’t think would happen. There were only five or six Matildas that had done it before …

27:40: I was never really a standout junior footballer. I think some years I was a bench player and I started out as a striker …

29:30: Last year we took the Tournament of Nations out. Being ‘Defending Champions’ is something new that we’ll have to face …

Kyah Simon is one of Australia’s most decorated footballers. She has forged a successful career in both the NWSL in the US and the W-League in Australia and has been a leading light for the Matildas for more than a decade. In her Kickin’ It With Kyah podcast, she will discuss life and football with her contemporaries around the world.