Graham Zusi was over the moon after helping Sporting Kansas City to a pre-season victory over Seattle Sounders on the weekend.
The 28-year old winger has been sidelined for much of the off-season with a stress fracture in his right foot but returned to action in Saturday's 3-2 Desert Diamond Cup triumph over the Sounders in Tucson, Arizona.
Zusi netted in the 34th minute before coming out of the game and he was delighted simply to be back on the pitch after a tough few months since the end of the 2014 MLS campaign.
"It felt good to be back out there," Zusi told reporters after the win.
"It was my first competitive match since the end of the season last year. It was exciting to be out there with the guys and a nice test for me physically. I thought I responded pretty well."
SKC next meet Real Salt Lake on Wednesday and head coach Peter Vermes suggests the USA international may be given more minutes in a bid to step up his match fitness.
"We'll want to keep increasing his minutes," Vermes added. "Maybe we'll go 60 or 75. We'll look at that in the next couple days here."
Sporting currently sit second on the DDC table with a win and a draw from their two matches and will finish in top spot if they manage to down RSL in the final group stage fixture.
