Mooy put in a five-star performance in the centre of the pitch for the Socceroos against the heavily-fancied France, but he's keeping his feet on the ground.

While he's come a long way from his roots playing for St Mirren in Scotland to the Premier League with Huddersfield Town and now the World Cup with Australia, Mooy is only thinking about Denmark now.

He dismissed any thoughts of a move to a bigger club on the back of his World Cup showing, but admitted he was savouring every second of his time in Russia.

"It's pretty crazy to be honest," he said today. "I'm enjoying every minute of it.

"It's my first World Cup and it might be my last World Cup so I just want to enjoy where I am and try my best. I am very happy at Huddersfield. It's a great club for me and I'm proud to be there.

"I'm just trying to get better, keep pushing myself and see where that takes me."

Mooy wasn't even in consideration for Brazil 2014 and missed the squad for the Asian Cup in 2015 too despite a successful run in the A-League at the time.

It's taken the arrival of new caretaker coach Bert van Marwijk and his move back to the UK to secure a spot at Russia 2018.

And as he waited to take to the pitch on Saturday, it was hard to keep a lid on his feelings.

"Lots of emotion, especially when the national anthem was being played, he recalled today. "You feel so proud to be where you are.

"You think about all the sacrifices and all the help you've had over the years."

"But as soon as the game starts you have to forget that and start focusing on the game. You have to focus on your job and your game as a much as you can."

"I was just focusing on what I was doing. It is the highest level and you want to play well and do well at the cup."

And from Kazan, Russia base for the Socceroos, the latest podcast from 442 FM...

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