Brosque, who turned 26 this week, broke his A-League scoring drought for the season last Friday against Melbourne Victory with a superb, angled header.

"While next year [South Africa] might be a bit far away, I guess you never know but I'll keep trying to push," Brosque told au.fourfourtwo.com.

"It's the highest accolade you can have in football, to represent your nation. I'd love to get back involved in the national team set up.

"And that comes with scoring goals as a forward and I want to do that on a more regular basis."

But with only two A-League players in the current Socceroo squad, Brosque hints that he would join the overseas exodus to make the dream come true.

An NSL starlet at Marconi, Brosque was signed by Feyenoord in 2004 but was immediately loaned out to Belgium's Westerlo.

Injury restricted his output.  Brosque was also played as a wide midfielder which he says didn't suit him. He made the 16 appearances (and two goals) in the Belgian Jupiler League.

After that frustrating experience, the former Smithfield RSL junior (the same club as Harry Kewell) returned for the start of the A-League signing for Queensland Roar.

"Since I came back, I always wanted to have a second shot," he said. "But the way the A-League's going, I'm more than happy playing here.

"But in saying that, at my age, if something was to come up, I'd love to have a crack. I know what it's about having been there once. If the opportunity came up, I'd like to give it a shot.

"I've always maintained that every player always has that [national team selection] in the back of their minds and I hope so."

Where would Brosque fit into the national team? If Verbeek continued with the national team for the Brazil campaign, he'd likely be one of the three attacking midfielders in the 4-2-3-1 system, although running off another striker in a 4-4-2 is clearly where Brosque has worked best.

With the scoring monkey off his back and a Sydney side beginning to hit their straps this could be the season Brosque, capped four times for the Socceroo,s the last in 2006, takes his career to a new level.

While the former Roar man admits he's a Socceroo longshot, his teammate Simon Colosimo continues to attract attention after a stellar season at the heart of Sydney's stingy defence.

It was Colosimo who set up Brosque at Etihad for the sky blues opener. But more than that, many see the  30-year-old as the ideal cover in the centre of the green and gold defence - particularly as he has overseas clubs on his CV including Sivasspor, Royal Antwerp and Manchester City.

"Our defence has been massive this season," said Brosque. "It's been a big part of our success. And playing for Sydney I've noticed a big similarity with the team I played with over there [in Belgium].

"The way we train, it's the smaller details that are making the difference at the moment."