Four years after he was Daniel Arzani's Socceroos World Cup teammate, Josh Risdon is ready to stand in the young gun's way.
The Western United skipper and right-back is on a collision course with Macarthur FC left winger Arzani in Friday night's A-League Men clash at AAMI Park.
The exuberant Arzani recorded a goal and an assist in the Bulls' round two win over Adelaide and shapes as a Socceroos bolter for the second time in as many World Cups.
But if Risdon has his way, the 23-year-old won't be adding to his resume against United.
"He's obviously an unreal talent that we've got in Australian football at the moment," Risdon told AAP.
"I've worked a little bit with him, obviously with the national team at the last World Cup, he's very, very talented.
"He's pushing for a World Cup spot so he's in good form.
"I saw some highlights from him on the weekend and he can do some some things that a lot of players can't.
"It'll be a good test for myself. Obviously I like coming up against the best players and testing myself so it'll be a good challenge on Friday night, that's for sure."
Arzani dealt with lengthy recovery from an ACL tear and bouncing between unsuccessful loan stints in Europe, while on Manchester City's books, before returning to Australia.
Risdon, now 30, expects the more mature winger to pose a different challenge to what he delivered on he training park four years ago.
"He's obviously come back to Australia looking to find that form again and I'm sure he's matured as a player over the years, playing in Europe," he said.
Risdon, for his part, is enjoying a rare injury-free run and is looking to hit top form with United.
He was Australia's starting right-back in Russia and is still looking to put his foot forward, but hasn't heard from Socceroos coach Graham Arnold recently.
"It's something that's obviously in the back of my mind," he said.
"I would have liked to have been involved the last few years here and there, but obviously, injuries and whatnot have happened, COVID as well.
"I know there's a lot of talk about who's going to go to this World Cup.
"it's a different sort of lead-up to this World Cup, given that it's a very short amount of time coming in from the season.
I know Arnie's looking at players who are playing well and every week so I've got four games, really, to put my best foot forward and see what happens."
