The NK Lokomotiva rightback plies his trade in the Croatian first division - Prva HNL - for the sixth-placed side from Zagreb. He is a former Croatia U/21 international and currently captains his club.

Van Marwijk spoke about the difficulties Australia faces in the right-back position, with Karacic expected to provide solid competition for Josh Risdon. 

“Everyone knows we have problems with defending on the right side,” the Dutchman said.

“Ante (Milicic) spoke with me about Karacic, he’s young and he’s playing in Croatian under-21. We went to Croatia a few times to see him."

Lokomotiva have a strong youth emphasis, formerly the farm side for Croat giants Dinamo Zagreb, and the 21-year-old Aussie has emerged from nowhere - with no Australian youth caps to his name - to become an unlikely bolter for Aussie fans heading to Russia.

Although the 32-man-squad will be cut down to 26 before Karacic has the opportunity to appear for Australia in either pre-World Cup friendly against Hungary or Czech Republic, van Marwijk will now have a brief opportunity to compare Karacic against the best Australia has to offer.

“He’s a talented player, he’s very big and strong," van Marwijk said.

"At the moment, he’s the captain of his team, he’s very young but he’s captain and he’s playing at the highest level in Croatia.

"He can be an interesting player for us.”