Western Sydney Wanderers' new German signing Patrick Ziegler could potentially play for the Socceroos after he revealed his father was born in Australia.
Ziegler's father was born in Adelaide and lived there for 18 years before his family moved back to Germany, Ziegler told the club's website.
And as Ziegler has never had a call up for Germany or any other nation, the 28 year old centre back is eligible for a Socceroos call up as soon as he gets citizenship – without having to wait a five year naturalisation period.
The 185cm tall defender, who can also play in defensive midfield, is already said to be looking into getting an Aussie passport to avoid being a visa player for Western Sydney Wanderers.
But despite being born in Gräfelfing in pre-reunification West Germany, he could also immediately pass the FIFA criteria to play for the Socceroos.
Former Asian Football Confederation Head of Sport Legal, James Kitching confirmed the German's potential to play for Australia.
"Under Article 7b of the FIFA regulations, if Ziegler hasn't ever played for another national team, he can play for Socceroos as soon as he receives citizenship," said the sports law expert.
For the moment though, Ziegler is focused on playing for the Wanders and making the move Down Under a success.
"My wife and me we are open-minded," he told the club's website. "It was a nice opportunity to learn something new, a new culture, a new playing style, everything."
.@thePZ5 reveals his link to Australia 🇦🇺 and the role Markus played in bringing him to the club #WSW pic.twitter.com/mFp2dTLrHw
— WS Wanderers FC (@wswanderersfc) August 4, 2018
He also revealed former Brisbane Roar flier Brandon Borello sold him on the A-League when they played together last year at FC Kaiserslautern in Germany.
"I talked a lot to him and he told me about the playing style," said Ziegler. "It's a little bit more physical sometimes.
"I have a feeling it suffers sometimes a little bit of nervousness. But it's nice. I think it's a nice playing style because I think it's not like in England which is only kick and rush.
"It's little bit of a mix - it's physical but you also want to have to keep the ball, so I like it very much here."
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