He estimates he has been on standby for the Socceroos squad an amazing 16 times and when finally called up for friendlies against Korea Republic and the Republic of Ireland in 2009, he was forced to withdraw through injury.

In 2005 he was called and told to board a flight to Durban the next day, for a Socceroos friendly against South Africa, but as soon as he got excited and started preparing, he received another call, telling him not to bother.

He could easily be forgiven for giving up on his international career but Australian midfielder Invincibile is still striving to achieve a life-long ambition and play for his country at senior level.

"It's one of those aches that's really frustrating me," Invincibile told Sportal.

"It's been really unfortunate and frustrating at times, like every footballer, I want to play for my country and it's the proudest moment of all. That's something I want to do and I still want to do.

"I think I still can, you've got to believe you can and hopefully one day that will happen. It's been a little bit frustrating that I haven't made it but it hasn't made me sour or disappointed in any way, it's just made me hungrier to finally get that jersey on."

After plenty of close calls, it appeared Invincibile's luck would finally change in February 2005 when several Socceroos pulled out of a friendly against Bafana Bafana, paving the way for him to make his debut.

But then came the dreaded phone call telling him to stay home.

"I got a call saying 'you are leaving tomorrow morning to go away' and I was excited and at that stage I was in really good form and doing really well," he said.

"That did hurt that it didn't materialise. It was disappointing for me."

Invincibile has played for Australia before, but only at Under-20 level.

He was part of the squad at the 1999 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Nigeria, playing games alongside the likes of Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano and Vince Grella, something he enjoyed immensely.

"It was a great experience," he said. "Being at a World Cup, even though it was at Under-20 level, it was fantastic. I loved every second of it.

"It put in my mind more than ever that I wanted to become a professional footballer and that's what I wanted to do with my career."

Now in the twilight of his career at the age of 32, a return to Australia could boost Invincibile's chances of receiving that long-awaited senior call-up.

After more than seven years at Scottish Premier League outfit Kilmarnock, Invincibile left the club by mutual consent in the January transfer window to ink a short-term deal with St. Johnstone.

He played 13 matches for the McDiarmid Park outfit, scoring one goal, before he was released on Tuesday, leaving the former Brisbane Strikers and Marconi Stallions player in transfer limbo.

"In terms of the future I just don't know what will happen," he said. "I'm leaving the options wide open. This is a big one, before it was quite an easy decision for me to stay.

"A couple of years ago I was breaking into the Aussie team and that was quite a good thing, and I haven't been involved for the last year or so, so that's another thing I have to think about, to see whether I can still have a last-gasp chance at that.

"Playing in Australia now, as opposed to 10 years ago, you have a lot more chances of getting into that Socceroos squad and playing in one of those major tournaments so that's definitely something that I've got to consider."

But leaving Europe after an 11-year stint might be harder than it seems.

He made over 200 appearances at Kilmarnock throughout the most dominant spell of his career, something that he looks back on with fond memories.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it," he said. "The first few years I was there it was great, the club was doing well and everything about it was fantastic.

"It's obviously a big part of my life and I've settled in quite well in Scotland as a result of that and made some good friends."

Throughout Invincibile's spell in Scotland, he never appeared on the winning side against Celtic or Rangers.

Of the 43 matches he contested against the two Scottish Premier League powerhouses, he was on the losing side 41 times, and admits that the absolute dominance of the Glasgow duo does make things tough for other clubs in the league.

"It's frustrating and it's very difficult," he admitted. "The problem with being over here is you start the season and realistically, not sort of being derogatory towards any other teams, but Rangers and Celtic are going to win it. 

"It's great, don't get me wrong, playing these teams, you get the atmosphere and the experience, and it's fantastic, but it can get frustrating on the other side of the scale when you know that you are not really going to go for the title. "

Invincibile will go down as a good servant of Kilmarnock but if he is viewed as a cult figure anywhere, it is at English club Swindon Town, where he spent three seasons that ensure the Australian is still talked about.

"The fans were excellent, I took really well to them," he said. "But I'm not sure they looked at it because of my name and took the mickey out of me more than anything else!"

But that is far from true.

Despite finishing his first season at the club as top-scorer, where he played at right-midfield and spent a puzzling stint out of position at wing-back, Invincibile is most remembered at The County Ground for his final-day heroics against Peterborough United in the same season.

If Swindon did not win the third-tier fixture they would have been relegated and with the scores level in injury time they looked as good as down – but that was before he hit a late, dramatic winner.

He added: "It's sort of a blur really.

"It was the 93rd minute and Ian Woan just lumped the ball with his left foot in the box and I've hit a volley with my left foot, sort of half off my shin and half off my foot (laughs) and it's gone in and that kept us up.

"That was another great feeling, a pitch invasion and everything and it meant a lot to the club. That was probably my proudest moment down in England."

After leaving Swindon, he had offers from Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday and Liga Sagres outfit Rio Ave, while he also spent time training with Porto before linking up with Kilmarnock when they were on an Italian training camp.

And Invincibile is sure to once again be the target of many offers as he approaches a pivotal decision in his future.