Troisi eyeing shot at second World Cup

He's been to one World Cup and James Troisi is fully committed to experiencing another.

The Melbourne Victory attacker was part of the Caltex Socceroos squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, coming off the bench against Spain and Chile.

And Troisi says the current campaign has a familiar feel to it with Bert van Marwijk taking charge a short time before the June showpiece.

“The scenario is quite similar,” said Troisi.

“Ange was the coach at that time and had little time to work with us.

“It's important to try to adapt as soon as possible to the new coach, new staff and what he wants to try to implement.

“He had a chat to us last night and everything is sounding good.

“Now we have to, with the little time we have in this window, put that into place.

“Then we'll obviously have a bit of time prior to the World Cup to really knuckle down and work on everything he wants.

“The group is fantastic and we've been through so much this last four years.

“We all know what we want to do, where we want to be and how we want to perform."

With 30 players named in Bert van Marwijk's initial squad, and 26 of those taking part in the new coach's first camp, competition is hot for places in the 23-man World Cup squad.

“Everyone is on a level playing field and everyone wants to try to impress,” Troisi said. 

“The most important thing is to be playing regularly.

“I know the gaffer came down and watched a couple of A-League games.

“I performed well so I'm obviously happy with that.

“What is in your hands is what you're doing week-in and week-out.

“You're here for a reason.

“You're doing the right things or he likes you for whatever reason.

“You shouldn't try to do too much and just stick to your game and if it works out, it works out.

“If you try to overcomplicate things and try to do too much, generally it doesn't work out.

“I'll stick to what I can provide for the team and how I can help the team.”

With less than 90 days until Australia's World Cup opener against France, Troisi is well aware what is at stake for him and his fellow Russia 2018 hopefuls.

“It's the biggest level you can reach in a football career – it’s the pinnacle,” he said.

“To be involved in one is massive; it goes down in the history books and is something you can tell your kids, family and friends about.

“To be involved in another one would be a massive achievement and something I would be very proud to be involved in.”