After being part of John Kosmina’s squad at the Pan Pacific tournament in Hawaii, Vidaic saw his opportunities for first team football effectively crushed with the signings of John Aloisi and Mark Bridge.

That led to a meeting with the club and a mutual decision was reached to release him from the final year of his contract.

Vidaic said it was a ‘a bit of both’ in terms of which party decided this was the best course of action.

And although clearly disappointed to see his A-League dream dashed, Vidaic is adamant that it is not the end of the line for him at top level.

The former Australian Under 17 international has returned to NSW Premier League side Sydney United where he is playing alongside another Sydney FC old boy Luka Glavas.

He told au.fourfourtwo.com: “John Aloisi and Mark Bridge came in and they’re great players who have proven themselves.

“I knew I wasn’t going to get a run ahead of them so I had to agree on something because in the end playing on the park is what matters, getting minutes is what matters.”

Vidaic knows that sometimes in football you have to take a step back in order to move forwards again and that is how he views his current situation.

He knows the A-League is not a one-shot goal with several players having dipped out before returning to the competition a year late.

The 20-year-old said: “You just have to keep pushing, keep working and hopefully your time will come.

“You never give up and I will try whatever it takes.”

Sulking and feeling sorry for yourself is perhaps a natural reaction when you suffer disappointment but Vidaic is not about to fall into that trap.

He said: “You learn from it. It’s how well you pick yourself back up. In a way, life is about proving people wrong and hopefully that’s the case. We’ll see what happens.”

Vidaic pointed to the case of Central Coast Mariners player of the year Mile Jedinak. Not so long ago he was an office manager who was playing part time for Sydney United.

His persistence eventually paid off and he was snapped up by Lawrie McKinna. Vidaic said: “Mile kept working at it and look at him now, he has just become a Socceroo.”

For the time being though Vidaic is just concentrating on doing well for United, who face Penrith Nepean United this weekend – a side containing Vidaic’s former Sydney FC teammate Nik Tsattalios.

Both he and strike partner Glavas were on target in the club’s last outing and he is enjoying the partnership.

He said: “It’s good playing with Luka. He knows how to run off me, he creates excellent runs and it’s good having him alongside me.”