Never mind sunshine on Leith, Dundee United defender Curtis Good could be soaking up the rays in Rio.
The 20-year-old Australian, who will be at the heart of the Tangerines’ defence when they face Hibs at Easter Road, has been handed a golden chance of being at the World Cup in Brazil this summer.
Good has been named in the Socceroos’ squad for the friendly against Ecuador at the New Den in London on Wednesday night.
If he makes his senior debut for his country and impresses coach Ange Postecoglou then he could be on the plane to Rio de Janeiro to take part in the greatest show on earth.
Understandably, these are exciting times for the man who joined United on loan from Newcastle just last month but who has looked right at home in tangerine.
He has important club business to attend to first, with Jackie McNamara’s men desperate to push themselves back above Inverness Caley Thistle and closer to Motherwell and Aberdeen by beating Hibs.
After Friday night’s clash, he will be packing his bag and heading down to London to join Australia’s training camp and prepare for the match at Millwall.
It will be the final fixture for Australia before the 30-man provisional World Cup squad is announced and Postecoglou has declared that anyone showing up well against the Ecuadorians will be in his thoughts for the Group B games against Chile, the Netherlands and Spain at the finals.
So no wonder Good is relishing this opportunity.
“When you start playing football as a kid that’s what you want to end up doing–playing for your national side,” he said.
“I got a call saying I was on the provisional list and to wait on the official one coming out. Thankfully, my name was there and it was a big thrill.
“It is good timing, I guess. We are playing Ecuador which will be a tough game but it is a great opportunity to impress the coach and I will do my best if selected.
“I have been trying hard not to get too excited about it but it hasn’t been easy. Brazil is a long way away yet but it would be great if it could happen for me.
“I have to keep working hard both for Dundee United and next week if I am in the international team.”
The Good news has travelled all the way Down Under, with father Michael, mother Denies, older sister Ashley and younger brother Travis all delighted for him.
He confirmed that the clan will be glued to their TVs next midweek–Thursday morning Aussie time–to watch the game.
“They have all been very happy to hear the news,” he said.
“They are maybe a bit shocked as well!
“It is nice to know I will make them proud if I get my first cap. It’s an exciting time for the family.
“They are all back in Australia so I don’t think they will be tempted to come across for the game. It’s a little bit too far to travel!
“It would take 24 hours to get here and then 24 to go back gain and they have things like work to consider. Still, it will be shown on TV back home so they can see the game while they are eating breakfast.
“I have had a load of text messages from them, especially my mum. I do use Skype to chat to my parents a couple of times a week so they know how I am doing.
“When you choose to leave your family to go and pursue a career overseas it can be tough. But it’s something you have to do to pursue a career in football and plenty of Australian players have done it in the past.”
Aussie coach Postecoglou has stressed that playing regular first-team games at club level influenced his decision to call up Good as well as fellow newcomers Chris Herd of Aston Villa, Ben Halloran of Fortuna Dusseldorf and Swindon’s Massimo Luongo.
So his move from the Magpies has worked for him.
“It has been important that I have been playing regular games for United,” admitted Good.
“My aim before coming up was to play week in, week out and I knew that I would get that opportunity here. The loan deal has turned out really well for me, to say the least.
“I didn’t know what to expect and hadn’t seen too much Scottish football but I have been pleasantly surprised.”
It has also been so far so good for the defender results-wise. His debut was a draw at Partick Thistle and that was followed by three wins on the bounce against St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Motherwell.
He said: “It was disappointing for us that Aberdeen beat Celtic the other night but we are still looking to finish as high up the table as possible.
“There is a sniff of a good finish for us and if we continue the form that we have been showing then we can do well.”
Twitter: @C_IRoache