At 5am, Mohamed Aidara wakes up to drive an Uber around Melbourne.
During the day, Bul Juach is a disability support worker.
Then at night, the pair suit up for training at Heidelberg United, the proud Greek club in Melbourne's northern suburbs that has become home.
It means hard work, on and off the clock.
"I start early mornings, around between 5:30am and 6am, and have a bit of a break midday, and then start again until the afternoon, around 4pm and then go home, get ready for training - and then train," Aidara told AAP.
"It's not always easy, but you get used to it.
"That's our life as semi-professional players."
This Saturday, those long days of juggling work and training could pay off in the most incredible of fashions, when Heidelberg's team of semi-professionals take on the Newcastle Jets in the Australia Cup final.
The Victorian NPL champions, under John Anastasiadis, have already dispatched A-League clubs Western Sydney, Wellington and Auckland FC without conceding a goal.
"The way we did it to go to the final, that's the confidence that we need," Juach told AAP.
"We don't need any more motivation."
Senegalese midfielder Aidara plied his trade in Germany, Belgium and Denmark, and jokes he's "been around a bit".
He almost signed for Melbourne City around 2017 while playing in Belgium.
That never eventuated but eventually Aidara found his way here - and has since married an Australian, while his kids were born in Melbourne.
Aidara has found Uber driving works around his schedule.
He's only once picked up a former teammate when on the job, but recalls with a laugh he has been a driver for many of his fellow NPL players, who are all part-timers.
"We're all working. We've got some boys who are engineers, some are Uber drivers," teammate Juach said.
The 24-year-old finds working at AGAPI Care gives him perspective and balance.
"It's very, very rewarding, just making these vulnerable people happy," Juach said.
"They're invested in my games, I think they know more of the schedule than I do."
Juach and his family were refugees from South Sudan. Between the ages of six and 12, he grew up in the Kakuma refugee camp.
When his family relocated to Canberra, playing football helped him find his feet.
"When I first got here, it definitely helped me settle in quicker," Juach said.
"Obviously, it's also seeing what other refugees have done - the likes of Awer Mabil, Thomas Deng - it's also inspired a lot of us.
"So there's a lot of good stories coming out from South Sudan in general - not only for myself, but a lot of others as well."
Juach's talent shone through as he rose through the ACT ranks, earning a spot at Macarthur's academy before playing in the NSW NPL, having a stint in Bulgaria then settling in Victoria.
"I don't think he knows of me," he jokes of Newcastle coach Mark Milligan, who was Macarthur's captain when he was at the Bulls academy.
In rich goal-scoring form, Juach hopes Milligan and other A-League clubs will know his name come Saturday night.
"I've always had confidence in myself. I just haven't really had a chance to challenge myself at that level," he said.
"But I believe I can play at that level, if given a chance."
But first, he and Aidara will dare to dream of becoming the first non A-League team to win the Australia Cup, and with it, an Asian Champions League Two berth.
"That's crazy to think about," Aidara says with a laugh.
"But it will be the best that could ever happen to us."
