Sydney FC's Alex Brosque and Simon Colosimo - part of a 15-man A-League contingent heading to Dubai to prepare for the January 6 Asian Cup qualifier with Kuwait - are just two wannabe World Cup stars assessing their options while also eyeing regular A-League football till March.

It's a tricky situation for many, but one Incheon United's out-of-favour Socceroo Jade North is also wrestling with. He must impress in the upcoming pre-season and hope he gets back playing regular first team football.

Otherwise a move to another club will be high on his agenda when he returns to his K-League club.

"They know I have to get out," he told au.fourfourtwo.com. "They like to look after their own over there. It's hard when you're a foreigner. In my team they expect a helluva lot from their foreign boys. We have a lot of pressure on us.

"I can be chopped and changed all the time. That's their way, their style. One week it's two changes, next week five changes. You never know where you stand in the team. It's frustrating.

"They went unbeaten for quite a few consecutive games so I was out of favour again... there is the language barrier too with communication throughout the club. And we train on dirt pitches. It was a bit of a shock when I first got there."

Now back in Newcastle with his family, the surfside vibe is proving the perfect antidote for a disappointing end to 2009.  North returns to South Korea on Saturday for a punishing two-month winter pre-season schedule at a mountain training base with two hour sessions twice a day, every day.

But he ruled out as return to an A-League club in the ACL saying he needed the intensity of an overseas league - echoing national coach Pim Verbeek's comments about national team selection.

"If people want to have a crack at a World Cup spot, they've got to find themselves in an overseas competition playing all the way up to the World Cup - not every couple of weeks or whatever," North said.  

"When I get back I'll sit down and speak with them to see where my future lies with them. As a foreigner I've come to them but haven't played enough games, and you have to wonder why.

"And it's had a big impact on my national team chances. I thought going over to Korea would enhance my chances [in the national team]."

Crucially, Verbeek sounded distinctly apathetic when quizzed  about North at a recent press conference.

"I have no idea," said the Dutchman when asked about the former Jet. "I haven't spoken with him at all. I can't speak with all 50 players. So I was focussing on the players I thought had a chance to be in part of the camp.

"The league in Korea is finished already for four weeks and he didn't play for months, so, Jade has to think very hard what he's going to do in the upcoming five months."

Up until a few months ago, North was a semi-regular in Verbeek's side, boosting his national team caps to 28. But the last few months have been disastrous for the former Queensland junior.

He's barely played a club game for United - who he joined at the start of the Asian season in 2009 - after falling out of favour mid-year with Serbian coach Ilija Petkovic.

North, now 27, was one of the few locally based Aussies who impressed Socceroo coach Pim Verbeek when the Dutchman took the reins in early 2008.

In March of that year, the Taree-born indigenous player's performance in Kunming against China in a round three World Cup qualifier was outstanding. And on the back of a Grand Final winning season with Newcastle Jets, North's career appeared on the rise.

However, with the World Cup just five and a half months away, North has missed selection for the last three Socceroo games.

The next chance for North would be in March 2010 when the Socceroos play their final Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia. A solid pre-season at Incheon and some games under his belt could be the catalyst for a late run.

"The good thing is that it's happened to me now - not right before the World Cup. Pim knows what I can do. He just wants to see me play regular football," added North, a former Joey and Olyroo.

The ex-Glory and Brisbane Strikers player was philosophical, saying it's been a rollercoaster year.

"I've had a few more downs than ups. I don't know why I was out of favour," he said.

North added that the K-League had a few clubs playing an attractive brand of football but outside those few top sides it's a high-intensity, physical game. It may suit the likes of Sasa Ognenovski, who's starred for Seongnam, but for the more technical, less imposing North, it hasn't yet clicked.

"It's a totally different ball game," he said. "They like to play man-to-man and get stuck in. But the top four teams like FC Seoul, Pohang, Seongnam and Suwon play fantastic football."

But his Socceroo commitments didn't help, with North finding it hard to win back his spot after being away on national team duties, a task made even harder because North was a foreigner.

North admits he's baffled why Incheon signed him.

"I really don't know," he said.  "It took me time to find my feet and when I did, it's hard to get in the team.

"They probably didn't see me as a presence on the field. I think they wanted someone to come in and make a big impact straight away."