He isn't Australia's first choice left-back - even by his own reckoning.
But Shane Stefanutto, the former national league defender with the Strikers, can lay claim to a first of sorts after an unusual declaration in Brisbane yesterday.
At a Socceroos luncheon at the Customs House, Stefanutto broke with tradition by admitting he regrets inking a multi-season deal overseas such is his desire to move back to the A-League.
"I'm a bit disappointed that I signed for three years last year. There's a lot of excitement now (in the A-League) with these new teams coming in and they're all from Queensland, and I'm a Queenslander. Everyone keeps asking me when I'm coming back and I'm like I wish I was coming back tomorrow," he said.
With one quick paragraph, the ears of every A-League club pricked up.
The Cairns-born, Gold Coast-raised star who played his senior football in Brisbane would surely be the first Australian export of recent times to wish his European experience away.
But there was a caveat: "I also have to think that if Pim (Verbeek) keeps selecting me there's the 2010 World Cup and that's got to be a goal of mine as well now. Maybe my best opportunity is to stay where I am in Europe. After 2010, I'll be on the first plane back."
Football Federation Australia officials might be in town to organise Wednesday's World Cup qualifying clash against Qatar, but there will be no higher acknowledgement of the A-League's progress this year.
And it's not because of Stefanutto's circumstances in Norway with Lyn Oslo, either.
The 28-year-old told of a settled football and family life in the Norwegian capital after early uncertainties leaving the former NSL. He smiled cheerfully when explaining the club's four-month pre-season, which begins in the depths of winter when Oslo enjoys a daily average of just one hour of sunshine and temperatures can sink as low as -20C.
He laughed at the lack of indoor training facilities, meaning the freezing players have to bear the full brunt of the harsh winter climate.
Finances aside, it's only a perceived greater exposure in Europe, plus perhaps preferable season scheduling (the Tippeligaen runs from April to November meaning he'd be deep in domestic competition when the World Cup kicks off in June) which are tying him to Norway.
If Stefanutto did return home ahead of the 2010/11 domestic season, he'd find a league of 12 A-League teams, with a second Melbourne franchise already the frontrunners to join Gold Coast United and North Queensland FC in the expanding competition.
But he said Brisbane still held a special place in his heart after six seasons playing at Perry Park.
Stefanutto could this week jump ahead of David Carney in the pecking order given Verbeek's preference for selecting players regularly turning out for their club sides.
Carney hasn't featured in the league this season after angering Sheffield United by accepting Graham Arnold's Olympic call-up on the eve of the new English Championship season.
Adelaide United's Scott Jamieson is the fourth left-back in Verbeek's trimmed down 28-man squad, but Stefanutto places Scott Chipperfield, the third most capped Socceroo in the party behind Brett Emerton and Mark Schwarzer, well ahead of the chasing pack.
"He's got international experience. He's played at a high level for a long time. He plays at a great club in Basel," Stefanutto said. "He's someone I try to emulate in terms of the standard that I have to set.
"I know I have to be up there to compete with him. He's the number one - that's the way I look at it.
"I think maybe the number two is a little open. It's just whoever proves themselves the best I would think."
He added: "Everyone keeps talking about there's a lack of left-sided players. I totally disagree with that. I think the left-sided players we've got are very good."