Central Coast striker Matt Simon is not letting talk of him going to next year’s World Cup disrupt him from his main mission – finding the back of the net for the Mariners.
Many believe the Mariners frontman is a big chance of making Pim Verbeek’s squad for the World cup next year.
Several outstanding performances last season and a solid start to this year mean Simon is well and truly on the Qantas Socceroos radar.
But the player himself said competing at the World Cup is ‘not even in the back of my mind’.
“It’s too far off to be thinking about it,” said Simon, who boasts two Qantas Socceroos caps and also represented Australia at last year’s Olympic Games.
“Every kid dreams of playing in a World Cup, it’s nice to have my name mentioned.”
Simon’s main focus is adding to his goalscoring tally when the Mariners battle Brisbane Roar in round four of the Hyundai A-League at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
He said he was reasonably happy with his form so far this year. He started the season on fire by netting in the club’s shock round one win over Melbourne.
Simon, who came into the season with a knee injury, then had a fair goal disallowed in a round two draw against Newcastle.
He was not as dangerous in last week’s scoreless draw against Sydney but is itching for a crack at the under pressure Roar defence.
“At home they’re under pressure so they’ll be pumped up,” Simon said.
“We’ll have to be ready.”
Meanwhile, Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna said defender Nigel Boogaard is likely to play against Roar despite battling a slight calf injury this week.
Central defender Chris Doig, who has not played since round one, is still out.
