He has the longest name in the history of the A-League Men but Sydney FC striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos knows he only has a short time to make an impression if he wants to be a part of the Socceroos' World Cup squad.
And if he gets the call-up from Australia boss Tony Popovic he is craving, the forward could be in for an uncomfortable conversation with his wife Soffey.
Stamatelopoulos and his partner are expecting their second child on June 23, which falls slap back in between the Socceroos' group stage games with co-hosts USA on June 20 and Paraguay on June 26.
"We try not to talk about that," Stamatelopoulos said sheepishly on Friday when it's pointed out to him that there may be a clash in his calendar later this year.
"...Everyone's dream is to go represent their country at a World Cup.
"For me, it was just about playing football again and loving it and there's no better place to do that than here."
Signed on loan from Motherwell earlier this week, Stamatelopoulos has just 11 regular season ALM games - starting with Saturday's meeting with Adelaide United at Allianz Stadium - to prove his worth to Popovic.
The striker has just one Australian cap - earned under Popovic's predecessor Graham Arnold - after being plagued by injury in his first season in Scotland.
Stamatelopoulos started the campaign leading the line for Motherwell but after missing a 2-0 win over Hibernian, the electrifying form of Zimbabwean forward Tawanda Maswanhise led to fewer opportunities.
"It was a bit of a weird situation, because when I stopped playing, I was only a goal away from being top scorer," Stamatelopoulos said.
"We were flying. I came out for a game with a niggle and we drew with Hearts at home in an exceptional performance.
"Then I think we beat Celtic at home 2-0, so he (manager Jens Berthel Askou) is obviously not going to change the squad.
"I went and spoke to him and he completely understood, he's a good man manager and he helped push it (the move)."
Stamatelopoulos will wear jersey No.80 with his preferred choice of No.8 - the number he scored 17 goals in a 25-game season for the Newcastle Jets - already taken.
"I'm a bit superstitious when it comes to numbers, when I've worn eight, it's gone well," Stamatelopoulos added.
