The Reading goalkeeper will battle it out with Perth Glory's Tando Velaphi for the custodian's jumper in Beijing.

His Olympic duties will also see him miss the start of Reading's Championship season. That doesn't help his bid to wrestle a spot away from first choice Marcus Hahnemann but Federici said he could not turn down the chance to represent his country.

He told BBC Radio Berkshire: "I was hoping to be challenging Marcus but the opportunity of playing at the Olympics was too great."

"I'm going to be playing internationals and I'll return with good experience."

"Any opportunity to represent your country, at any level or competition, is a great honour.

"I've been home recently and it's all over the news. Anything the Socceroos did made it into the headlines, which was a bit of a surprise really as it's never been like that before.

"It's being taken more seriously and the A-League is taking off over there. They get big crowds to the games."

Federici accepts that a good tournament for the Olyroos can only further enhance Australia's standing in the world footballing community.

He said: "This is a great opportunity to cement Australia as a major competitor in all competitions in football.

"Australia is a sporting nation - everyone loves the sport no matter what it is, as long as there's the green and gold.

"If we do as well as the Socceroos did in the last World Cup, maybe even winning the tournament, it's just going to grow and grow."