A-League All Star Nikolai Topor-Stanley has not given up on his dream of playing at the World Cup next year and will get the perfect chance to shine when lives out a childhood dream to play against Manchester United next month.
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Canberra junior Topor-Stanley, Thomas Broich and Brett Emerton were the first three players confirmed as starters for the exhibition match against Manchester United at ANZ Stadium on July 20.
For Topor-Stanley, it's an opportunity to show he can still match it with the best.
The game is a sellout and fans voted Topor-Stanley into the line-up.
He has not added to his two international caps for the Socceroos since making his debut in 2008 and was not part of the qualification campaign that last week booked Australia's ticket to Rio.
But the 28-year-old defender will use the A-League All Stars fixture and another season with the Western Sydney Wanderers to keep his Socceroos dream alive.
''It's never too late, you just have to control what you can and let the rest take care of itself. [The World Cup] in Brazil is one year away and you never know,'' Topor-Stanley said.
''There are always some surprise packets involved.''
Topor-Stanley grew up idolising some of United's greatest players - Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. He could square off directly with 39-year-old veteran Giggs in the match.
