Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren has described Thursday night’s clash with Saudi Arabia as the biggest of his international career so far.
The important FIFA World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia at the Western Sydney Stadium is the Socceroos' first on home soil since October 2019, but it also could mark Maclaren's first cap since June.
The 28-year-old’s call-up came off the back of some unstoppable form in clubland, which saw him register 25 goals and 5 assists as he spearheaded Melbourne City's charge to their first-ever Premiers Plate.
Having grabbed the headlines the last time the Socceroos played at home back in 2019, he will be hoping for another night to remember on Australian soil.
Despite having 18 Socceroos appearances, the magnitude of pulling on the Green and Gold shirt is not lost on Maclaren.
“It does feel like one of the biggest games in my international career so far,” Maclaren explained.
Ever since I got my debut, I’ve never taken a cap for granted.
“Every time you put on that jersey, it could be your last. I’ve taken that mentality the last couple of years because you just never know.
“That’s why it was so hard for me not to come to the last two camps, because you just never know.
“Playing for your country’s the greatest feeling ever. You get goosebumps whenever you talk about it, let alone experiencing it.
“I can’t wait until Thursday. I’ve always worked hard. I’m as hungry as ever. For me, it’s an honour to be here.”
Having not played for the Socceroos since June after sitting out the last two international windows to avoid COVID-19 restrictions, Maclaren is raring to go.
The A-League Men's Golden Boot winner is joined in the squad by Melbourne City teammates Mathew Leckie and Andrew Nabbout, who could be set to earn his first national team cap in over three years.
While Maclaren has not had to wait as long as Nabbout for his recall, he explained how hard it was to miss the last few camps.
"It was tough to not come to the last Socceroos games,” Maclaren said.
“It really, really upset me. It upset a few of us, obviously me, Andy and Lecks play for the same club.
"So we'd talk daily about how much we missed it and dissect the game and talk about how exciting and how great it was to watch them play in Doha.
When we saw the fixture come out that there was a game in New South Wales, we couldn't wait.
“We’ve been training for 15 weeks so I’m as hungry as ever. We’ve been doing a lot of long-distance running which probably some of the boys who have the minutes under their belt don’t quite do at club level.
“That’s purely the nature of the A-League. It’s a long pre-season and it’s given us enough time to make sure we’re working on our bodies.
“We’ve had that much time, our bodies are so fit, we’re coming in ready, fresh and - if selected - ready to go.”
Australia sit second behind Saudi Arabia, who have won all four of their games, in Group B, making Thursday night’s match crucial in securing a historic fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup.
While Australia will have the home support of fans for the first time in over two years, Maclaren said there will be many other factors that influence the match.
"There's many factors: the fact we haven't played in two years at home with a special crowd in a fantastic stadium, that's on the line, the fact Saudi have won four in four," Maclaren said.
"We're just pushing for ourselves and really worrying about what we can control.
We know that the crowd is going to be a huge factor in our favour on Thursday night and us as players really need to capitalise on that.
“They've got some good players, some very good individual players but looking at us, we are a very good team too.
"There's many factors but it's going to be a huge game and we expect to get the win and move on.”
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