The 25-year-old Western Sydney Wanderers defender will watch the friendly with mixed emotions after learning his own bid to play international football has all but been killed off forever by FIFA.

The Lebanese Football Federation flew Elrich to Beirut for two weeks in April to tie up his international future and Elrich pledged his allegiance to the nation.

But a spot on the Socceroos bench as an unused substitute during an Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia in 2009 has proved to be his undoing.

While the former Newcastle Jets stalwart grabbed the chance to play for The Cedars in a match against a local league side during his brief stay in the capital, a repeat performance is now unlikely.

“As a kid I always wanted to play international football," he said. "My number one priority was to play for the Australian national team.

"My brother (Ahmad) played for the Socceroos and I wanted to follow in his footsteps and put on the green and gold. I played in the Australia U20s and U23s but I didn’t get into the national team.

"It wasn’t so much that my heart and soul was a 100% for Lebanon but  I was in my mid-20s, I looked at my career, asked myself what I wanted to do and international football was the number one thing.

“I actually went there in the off-season with my parents, we did all the background, wrote all the letters, dealt with the emails back and forth from FIFA.

“I went to my parents’ village. I got to play with the team and the coach seemed pretty happy.

“But they said because I registered for the Australian team in an Asian Cup match, I won’t be eligible to play for the Lebanese national team.

“To be honest I don’t know if it’s the final word from FIFA, I think it was more like ‘Look, it’s going to be very hard to play for Lebanon’."

He added: “I had a great time over there.

"Obviously Lebanon’s got its political problems but when I was there the weather was great, the people were awesome, the beaches, the restaurants – I love going back there."

Elrich said Lebanon - currently last in their group - had already picked up a worthy draw against Uzbekistan and would be looking to get their World Cup campaign back on track with a good hit out against the Aussies in the match played overnight tonight.

He said the side would be boosted by the possible return of attacking midfielder Roda Antar, who plays in the Chinese Super League with Shandong Luneng, and classy striker Hassan Maatouk – neither of whom were available for selection during his one-match stint with the team.

“Lebanon have got a lot of quality it’s just that, with everything that’s happened over there, football’s been sidelined a bit,” he said.

“To be honest, when I was there, their key striker and midfielder were injured - but they’re coming back so they’re certainly no walk-overs. Hopefully it will be a very entertaining game to watch.

“They’re a team that works hard and they’re very technical players, but Australia also have a lot of quality and I’m sure we can match it with them.”

Elrich said while his dream of international football might never now be realised, he was content to focus on his role with Sydney’s new A-League outfit following his move from the Jets.

“I’m not going to sit here and dwell on what could have happened," he said. "I’m just focusing on the new journey in my life, with a new club in Western Sydney Wanderers. I’m looking forward to it.

“It’s been a fresh start for me. It was something I needed to do and I’ve been enjoying my football again. I’ve probably been training the hardest I have in my career so far.

"I’m looking forward to this season, I’m very excited. I’ve put in the hard yards and hopefully I’ll be ready at the start of the season.”