Scottish-born Socceroo Martin Boyle has an ambition to see a lot more of Australia before his football career is over.
Boyle qualified to play for Australia via his Sydney-born father, making his debut against South Korea in Brisbane before scoring two goals in a 3-0 win over Lebanon in Sydney days later in what was Tim Cahill's final Socceroos appearance.
For the 28-year-old winger, those matches remain the only time he's set foot in his adopted homeland, with a combination of injury and the COVID pandemic meaning his five subsequent caps have all been played outside Australia.
Despite having signed a new deal with Scottish Premiership club Hibernian, Boyle said finishing his career in Australia at an A-League club was high on his wishlist.
"That's always been a part of my plan. I've committed to Hibernian for the next two-to-three seasons but I'm not getting any younger and I'd really like to experience playing over there," Boyle said.
"Hopefully one day in the future I can come out there and represent one of the clubs out there."
Boyle is part of a growing number of Socceroos who have been drawn from foreign backgrounds including defender Harry Souttar and Croatian-born Fran Karacic.
As he prepares to help Australia in World Cup qualifiers against China and Vietnam in the next week, Boyle admits it still feels surreal to know he might be playing for the Socceroos in Qatar next year.
"I never thought I'd expect it in my lifetime to obviously be sitting here speaking to you and obviously the potential of World Cups, it's a real honour," he said.
"It's a real privilege to be here.
"Every time I'm selected I've got a big smile on my face, my family are really proud."
