South’s 6-0 thrashing of Gold Coast City in the FFA Cup quarter-final means the former NSL powerhouse will play a mouth-watering semi-final in front of their own fans against Sydney FC.

South Melbourne’s four NSL titles and World Club Championship appearance against Manchester United may be the club’s highwater mark but the semi-final against the A-League champions could see it rate amongst those moments.

For Schroen, the chance to make history and be the first NPL team to play in the FFA Cup decider is an enticing prospect.

“To make the final would be unbelievable,” Schroen told FourFourTwo.

“Words couldn’t describe it, to beat the champions of Australia would definitely be huge because it hasn’t been done before.

“We’ve got the chance to bring home a trophy. We’ll put up our best fight.

"Football is a funny game anything is possible when its 11 versus 11 on the park and we’ll prepare right to give us our best chance of winning.

“The club has been calling it potentially the biggest game of its history and that is probably the case in the last 10 or 15 years. I couldn’t think of a bigger game for the club.”

As was reported in FourFourTwo last week, not a single player from the NPL has made the move to an A-League club ahead of the 2017/18 A-League season.

South Melbourne players celebrate qualifying for the semi-finals on the Gold Coast

Schroen, who has been on the cusp before, believes the FFA Cup semi-final is the perfect opportunity to prove a few doubters wrong.

“We’ve seen a few NPL clubs knock off A-League clubs before in the past and they always put up quite a good fight," he said.

“It‘s huge for the players because it gives us a chance to put ourselves out there and showcase ourselves like we did against Gold Coast. Because I thought everyone was fantastic the quarter-final.

“We were really on top of our game and we got the just rewards for what we worked for.

“It’s a fantastic feeling. The effort the boys put in makes it really rewarding and worth it all.

“Now we put ourselves in the semi-finals and in a massive clash against Sydney FC, it’s exactly what the boys were hoping for and it feels awesome."

With South having the hometown advantage, Schroen believes the NPL club can cause an upset.

“Sydney would not have played at Lakeside before and we’ll be comfortable in our home environment and hopefully we can use that to our advantage,” he said.

“We all know how good the South Melbourne fans are. They are always supportive and loud and they come in big numbers.So, the atmosphere at the game will be something to look forward to.

"It’s exciting for all of us. It’s only going to help us having them all behind us cheering us on. It’s great to have that support it will only spur us on.”