After sitting out the Glory's Pre-Season Cup opener against the Jets last Saturday, the 34-year-old keeper will play his first match for Perth on Saturday night against Melbourne after being lured back to Australia by coach Dave Mitchell during the off-season.

And after 11 seasons and only 48 appearances in Germany, Juric is excited at the prospect of playing more regular football at the Glory and hopefully putting himself on the radar for a role with the Qantas Socceroos.

"It's been a long time between drinks," said Juric. "It's been a good 11 years and I'm excited to play against my home town club."

"The last time I played here in Australia, I think was the season I had at Collingwood Warriors," he said of the ill-fated club in the old National Soccer League, which lasted just one year in the competition.

"I always had a goal to come back to play in Australia for a few more years. I think if I left it any longer, I wouldn't have been able to come back, they would have said I'm too old. But, I am fit," he added.

Juric said that, while he was focussed on the Glory's goal of making the Hyundai A-League finals for the first time, he was also looking forward to challenging Perth team-mates Jason Petkovic and Tando Velaphi.

"Personal goals, I've actually come back so I can increase my chances of playing in the Australian national team," said Juric, who played two games for the Qantas Socceroos during the mid-1990s.

"(But) as far as goals go, I'm not the No.1 (for the Glory) yet, so we'll see who plays against Adelaide United in a few weeks time, see what the coach does."

After four seasons and two NSL titles with the Melbourne Knights, Juric's one season at Collingwood in 1996-97 saw the club finish second last and struggle financially.

From Collingwood, Juric moved to Germany, where his first season for Fortuna Dusseldorf was fairly successful, with the club finishing seventh in its division, before being relegated the following year.

Juric's 36 appearances for Fortuna saw him picked up by Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, which was experiencing several successful seasons around the turn of the decade, with the goalkeeper making 11 appearances over five seasons, including Champions League matches against Olympiakos and Manchester United.

But after spending the last four seasons at Hannover 96, where he made just one appearance deputising for regular stopper Robert Enke, Juric felt it was time to head home.

"I think Bayer Leverkusen, for me, happened maybe a little bit too early," said Juric.

"They were one of the biggest clubs in Germany at the time along with Bayern Munich. Looking back at it, maybe (I should) have gone to a smaller club in Germany."

But with those experiences behind him, Juric said he has the motivation to fight tooth and nail for a regular starting position with the Glory.

"Competition brings out the best out of everybody," he said. "In Germany, at Hannover, I was up against the guy who will be the next national goalkeeper for Germany in Robert Enke (while) at Leverkusen, we had three national goalkeepers there, so I think the competition is good for everybody."