Taking part in the biggest sporting event on the planet is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Canberra product Jason Geria is desperate to experience.
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The Melbourne Victory defender is aiming to help the Olyroos qualify for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Geria has been named as part of a strong 23-man squad for upcoming matches against Turkey and FYR Macedonia in September.
The Olyroos will face Turkey in Istanbul on September 4 and FYR Macedonia in Skopje on September 7 as part of their preparation for the AFC under-23 championships in January, which double as the Olympic qualifiers.
Olyroos coach Aurelio Vidmar has showed his intent including Socceroos squad members Josh Brillante, Terry Antonis, Daniel de Silva, Chris Ikonomidis, Adam Taggart and Brad Smith.
"They are experimenting, new players are coming in and new players are going out, so to be in it again, I'm really happy," Geria said.
"These are friendlies, but the strongest possible squads are being called in.
"It shows how bad we want to qualify.
"It's a good opportunity for us to get better and to take that into January.
"It's good that everyone will get to work together and get used to each other because that's how, hopefully, we'll get to the Olympics."
Australia didn't qualify for the 2012 London Olympics and was bundled out at the group stages in the 2008 tournament, when the Olyroos contained the likes of Mark Milligan, James Troisi and Matthew Spirnaovic.
"It's massive," Geria said.
"I can tell from the boys I knew who were in the last campaign that they were really disappointed they didn't go to that.
"It's such a rare event to be a part of and to qualify for.
"We know how important it is and I know all the boys are going to be working their backsides off to get to Rio, because it's such a special event.
"Not just for us, but the country and the sport as well.
"Personally, I want to do whatever it takes to be there."
Geria is coming off an impressive season for the Victory, where he established himself at right back for the A-League champions.
The Victory have just completed a 10-day camp at Coffs Harbour and easily accounted for Victorian NPL side Port Melbourne this week.
Their next encounter is a round of 16 FFA Cup tie with Rockdale City Suns on Tuesday.
"Our first FFA Cup game against Balmain Tigers, you could tell it was our first hit-out and we were a bit rusty," Geria said.
"We've been training hard and we had a pre-season camp at Coffs Harbour last week.
"The intensity of training is going up and our match fitness is getting better."
