Tete Yengi spent years watching his brother and close friends from South Australia tick off dreams as he battled away in lower-level leagues.
Now, the uncapped striker determined to become the "ultimate player" is living the biggest dream of all in Australia's World Cup squad.
Yengi, 25, is the younger brother of fellow Socceroos striker Kusini, friends with Mohamed Toure and Nestory Irankunda, and has known Toure and his siblings since he was 12 and the Norwich striker was eight.
But unlike his fellow South Australians, he never played for Adelaide United or any youth national teams, instead spending time in the local NPL competition.
"Mo's even younger than me. Well, they're all almost younger than me," Yengi said on Monday (Tuesday AEST).
"So seeing them do it, having that self-belief, knowing that I can do it as well - and I'm here now, so I'm just going to enjoy."
Yengi bounced from the Newcastle Jets to Finland, League One and Two in England and the Scottish Premiership and Championship.
He sealed a loan move to Machida Zelvia in Japan, from Livingston in January, then played a role in their run to the Asian Champions League Elite final - which caught Tony Popovic's eye.
"Now I finally got my chance," Yengi said.
"I'm here to show the coaches why they have that belief in me, and hopefully show the world what I can do."
A seal of approval from the CommBank #Socceroos boss for this finish from Tete Yengi đ pic.twitter.com/nhtPclcB1R
â CommBank Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 2, 2026
Yengi stands 197cm tall, but is adamant he's not just a target man, though he has also developed his game beyond "pretty football".
"Growing up I was always playing with the ball, so I've got some technique," he said.
"I like to play with the ball. I don't just like to stand around and wait for crosses, but I think nowadays the most important things are goals.
"... Going on all these different adventures helped me learn different parts of the game, different coaches, different teammates, different styles of play.
"So kind of putting that all together and building the kind of ultimate player.
"I feel like I've taken a bit from every place I've been to, and that's helped me to be who I am today."
Yengi speaks to 27-year-old Kusini, an 11-cap Socceroo himself, every day.
"I feel a bit sorry for him, he's going through a tough time with injuries and stuff, maybe he would have been here instead of me," Yengi said.
"He's my idol, so I'm always looking up to him. He's always doing things before me and then passing on the advice."
Now, Yengi will jostle with goalscoring phenom Toure for that prized starting striker role against Switzerland on Saturday (Sunday AEST).
"We all want to play," he said.
"So I'm going to give my best, he's going to give his best, and then see what happens."
