Sharpe, 26, was number two this season until the club signed a third keeper. But Sharpe told au.fourfourtwo.com, he's been looked at as a future first choice at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

"I was the number two for the first 14 games of the season and then we bought [keeper] Preston Burpo, which was a huge surprise to all," he said.

"But my chance is coming. The coach said it was simply a year for me to learn the league and get to know the players in the league before next season."

Sharpe is one of the most travelled Aussie players abroad. He signed for Blackburn a decade ago before work permit issues forced his return home after a season.

A stint with Northern Spirit in the NSL followed in the fledgling club's youth team before he returned to the UK and Southampton where he signed as a YTS player and a pro in 2000/2001.

More work permit issues forced a second return home and a second spell with Spirit in 2002/2003. A move to Parramatta Power ensued before the old NSL was disbanded.

Like most players from Australia in 2004, with 15 months before the A-League kicked off and no professional league to play in, he drifted off to another country. In Sharpe's case, it was the US and lower tier club Vermont Voltage for a three month stint.

However, Chesterfield in England had heard of Sharpe and with the Spireites needing a glovesman, a two year deal was sorted out for the Aussie in 2005.

Incredibly, yet another work permit snag ended his career in the UK before it had even started at Satergate.

Sharpe revealed: "From there in late 2005 I went back to the USA and trained for two months with Colorado Rapids.

"But in January 2006 I signed for a club in Denmark called B1909 in the First Division for the remainder of the season.

"In the summer of 2006 Viborg FF in the Danish Superliga signed me for one year. I spent six months there then in Jan 2007 Koge Boldklub in the Danish Division One were looking for promotion and they bought me from Viborg FF for the remainder of 2007.

"But in 2008 I decided to come back to the USA and sign for the Colorado Rapids."

Sharpe is at home in Rocky Mountains territory ("life is nice"). He's married to an American woman, lives in Denver and he has his own goalkeeper academy called Core.

He plays regularly in the reserves, although regularly in the MLS can mean games once a month. And as the shot-stopper sees it, the Aussie NSL was comparable.

"The MLS is a growing league and the quality of players is growing and getting better all the time. David Beckham, Blanco, Huckerby, Robert, Masteroni and many others, the league is getting stronger all the time.

"The overall quality compared to the old NSL is very much on a par.

"The Danish Superliga was a very big league in Scandinavia with the likes of FC Copenhagen and Brondby."

The Raps, as they are called, recently played Everton in a pre-season friendly. The 2-1 loss was seen as a gallant defeat.

"I thought we did very well," added Sharpe. "We tried to play football. With Everton being in pre-season and coming into the altitude it probably gave us a slight advantage fitness wise.

"The first 20 mins we tried to feel them out a bit and got a little complacent early on and it cost us a goal, but from there we slowly clawed our way back into the game and got back on level terms in the second half.

"Before a well taken goal right at the end of the 90 gave Everton a 2-1 win. We out shot them and outplayed them, but the result didn't show it."

Sharpe hopes to show his credentials at the club and become the first Aussie to become a regular in the MLS.

"I plan on being here for some time. It's my first year and it's always tough coming into a side with an established goalkeeper. I want to be the number one here in the seasons to come and establish myself here for many seasons to come.

"But definitely would love to come home to the A-League at some point. England would be my first choice to go back to, though...if my work permit would allow me!"