Nabbout's 'dream' debut draws closer

Andrew Nabbout is on the verge of fulfilling a football dream he's held his whole life.

The pacy front-man's sensational season with the Newcastle Jets has resulted in not only a Caltex Socceroos call-up, but also a move to Japanese giants Urawa Red Diamonds.

It's been a remarkable rise for a player who was without a club eighteen months ago and wondered if his professional career may have run its course.

“It took a lot of hard work to get here, a lot of resilience and a lot of confidence in myself,” said Nabbout from Oslo where the national side is in camp ahead of two pre-World Cup friendlies.

“Reflecting on it now, I'm definitely grateful for all the hard work I put in and the mental strength I had to keep going because a lot of people would probably have shut up shop.

“It's kept me humble and hopefully I can keep it going.

“I know every player's ultimate goal is to play for their country and hopefully I get the chance to do that.

“I just can't wait to see what's ahead,” he added.

The training camp in Oslo has provided the first chance for the Socceroos players to interact with new coach Bert van Marwijk.

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And Nabbout has been immediately impressed with the new man at the helm of the national side.

“He's very strong on discipline,” said Nabbout.

“Just the all-round one-percenters, the accuracy of passing and movement is very good.

“His attention to detail is very, very good.

“He knows exactly what he wants and he's very vocal about it.

“The rest of the coaches are amazing too – they’ve all got really good football knowledge and they know how to get the best out of players.”

The Caltex Socceroos meet Norway in Oslo on Saturday morning (AEST) before a short hop to London where they'll face Colombia on Wednesday.

And the uncapped Nabbout knows his dream of finally taking the pitch for Australia is close enough to touch.

“Everything. It would mean everything,” he said.

“It's everything a footballer dreams of.

“I've watched them from when I could kick a ball and that's all I wanted to do, to play for the national team.

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“Just to be here is amazing, let alone getting an opportunity to potentially put on the playing jersey, so I can't wait.

“It's giving me goose-bumps just talking about it!”