Australian international Aziz Behich is putting all thoughts of the World Cup to one side as he focuses on lifting Dundee United off the foot of the Premiership.
The left back has earned 52 caps for the Socceroos and featured last month in their 1-0 win over New Zealand.
The 31-year-old already had a taste of the World Cup, at Russia in 2018.
There he played in every match – unfortunately scoring an own goal against France – as Australia dropped out after the group stages.
He could be forgiven for having half an eye on a spot in Qatar next month.
However Behich, who bagged his first goal for the Tangerines on Saturday, insists he is putting all his energy into what happens at Dundee United, not what could transpire on the world stage in Doha.
Focus on Dundee United
“It’s exciting times, but just now I’m focused on here,” the Aussie said. “I’ve got to do my job.
“But, yes, it is in the back of my mind: this will be my second World Cup.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to keep performing for Dundee United.
“I’ve come to the club and I want success. I’ve tasted that before in Turkey but, after this club did so well last year, we wanted to do better.
“It’s still early in the season with a lot of games to play. We are still in the cups, so we’ve got a lot to play for.
“But my full focus is on Dundee United at the moment.”
Set ‘standard’ for future performances
After helping his side to their first league win of the season, Behich now hopes to make it two wins in two when they host Hibs on Tuesday night.
Another win in the rearranged fixture could see United move off the bottom of the table.
He believes the victory has relieved some ‘pressure’ on the side, but the manner of their win over Aberdeen has set a standard that they should now be trying to meet.
“It was a long time coming,” Behich said. “It’s not easy as a footballer with the results we’ve had, there was a lot of pressure.
“We know what the football club delivered last season and we want to do better this year.
“We haven’t lost belief. The coaching staff support us a great deal.
“We’ve a great group of players, a strong team. Where we are now is not good enough and we know that.
'I come from a land down under…' 🇦🇺@AzizBehich | #UnitedInPursuit pic.twitter.com/YETeYSPXcX
— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) October 8, 2022
“Against Rangers we played really well and we wanted to kick on from that but we didn’t.
“On Saturday, we showed our standards and we can’t drop below that anymore.
“Games are ticking by and we’ve got to keep this as the Dundee United standard.”
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