A text message from an unknown number changed things for Canberra's Nikola Jadric.
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The 19-year-old woke up in Croatia to a family group chat flooded with messages and another from an unknown number; who turned out to be the Olyroos manager.
"I couldn't believe it, and I called dad all excited. He was just like 'now the work starts, get in there and show them what you got'. So it was a big moment," he said.
"My dad knew before me, because they sent him an email. My whole family knew before me, and they waited for me to wake up in the morning."
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The former Belconnen United junior was called into a 22-player national identification camp this month, alongside Australia's best young talents in Europe, to play two fixtures against Dutch youth sides.
It aimed to identify players outside of the A-League Men's competition for the AFC U23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan.
Jadric hopes to receive a call up but said he was still happy with the camp experience.
"I never expected that to happen," he said.
"It did feel good to put on the jersey for the first time. So that's a massive milestone."
He has played for the junior Australian schoolboys, Canberra United juniors, and Canberra Croatia's NPL in his journey to the national ID camp.
Jadric took six days away from his Croatian second division side HNK Orijent 1919, after making the jump up following two years with junior side HNK Rijeka, to attend the camp in the Netherlands.
"It was a big step up from under 19s going straight into men," he said.
"The clubs here, they're fighting to get promoted into the first league so it's a very tough comp. It took a while for me to adapt but at the start of the year I felt really good, I felt very solid in midfield.
"I'm going to focus on the Croatian League and see if I can get, not only noticed by the national team, but also noticed by different clubs, whether it be in first league or somewhere else in Europe."
The teenage midfielder has his eyes set on making it into one of Europe's first leagues, and one key part is the atmosphere games provide.
Whilst the stadiums in Croatia's second division are not as big as the ALM's ones back in Australia, the dedication from fans trumps it.
"We get it quite a few players and then sometimes people who don't want to pay to come in, they actually stand on the roof behind the buildings and watch the game there," Jadric said.
"So at some points you can see hundreds of people and some standing on the roof watching the game."
The 19-year-old is a product of Canberra's premier league, which gets underway this weekend.
The first match in the women's competition kicks off on Friday night.
NPLW round 1
Friday fixtures:
- Tuggeranong United FC v Belconnen United FC, Greenway Enclosed 7.45pm
Saturday fixtures:
- Wagga City Wanderers FC v Canberra Olympic FC, Gissing Oval 2.30pm
- Canberra Croatia FC v Canberra United Academy, Deakin Stadium 2.30pm
TBC - Gungahlin United v West Canberra Wanderers FC
NPLM round 1
Saturday fixtures:
- West Canberra Wanderers FC v O'Connor Knights SC, Melrose Synthetic Field 2.15pm
- Belconnen United FC v Monaro Panthers FC, McKellar Park 3pm
- Tigers FC v Gungahlin United FC, AIS Grass Field 1 3pm
- Canberra Olympic FC v Canberra Croatia, O'Connor Enclosed 3pm
Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
