“I'm quite excited," he admitted. "I just found out about five minutes ago. It's a dream. It's always in the back of your head but I never expected it. A total surprise.

“It's a bit like when you go back to your younger days when you first start kicking a ball around. I'll just try to do my best.”

Former Socceroo Josip Skoko once said Talay was the best player never to have played for the Socceroos. The FC linkman was happy to have that tag potentially removed forever.

“It was a great title to have but it looks like I can go to the training camp with the Socceroos so I'm looking forward to that," he said.

Talay also has experience against Qatar, the Socceroos' first World Cup opposition on February 6 in Melbourne.

“I did play in Qatar in 1995 in the Youth World Cup with the Young Socceroos though,” he said. “It's a big morale booster.”

Talay's teammates Clint Bolton, Alex Brosque and Steve Corica were also named in the Socceroo squad.